Schismatoglottis trifasciata Engl.

Herb, sometimes robust, c. 30–70 cm tall. Stem condensed, hypogeal, hapaxanthic, clump-forming, to c. 2.5 cm diam. Leaves few to several together; petiole (14–) c. 20–50 cm long, sometimes suffused purplish or blackish, very finely velvety hairy to scabrid with minute and dense papillae to glabrous, more or less terete to D-shaped in cross section and narrowly alate on the angles, sheathing in the lower ⅓–⅔(–9⁄10 – Poulsen 143, p.p.); wings of sheath fully attached, tapering; blade sagittate to oblong-ovate to ovate, adaxially shining to matt mid-green, sometimes variegated with 2 irregular grey-green bands about midway between the midrib and margin, paler abaxially, 16–15 cm long × 7–26 cm wide, the base acute to retuse to narrowly to broadly cordate and then with somewhat acute posterior lobes up to 12 cm long; midrib abaxially prominent (fresh; not so when dry) with (like the primary veins) the same variable surface texture as the petiole; primary lateral veins 5–13 on each side of the midrib, alternating with fine to robust (almost equalling primary veins) lesser interprimaries and diverging at 45–80°, unbranched or with 1–3 branches especially in the lower half of the blade; secondary venation arising from the midrib and sometimes from the primary veins — especially in forms with branched primary veins; tertiary venation obscure. Inflorescences (1–)2– c. 8 together; peduncle 8–20 cm long exserted from the leaf bases and cataphylls at anthesis, elongate and more or less declinate in fruit. Spathe 9–16.5 cm long, slender; lower spathe narrowly ovoid, 2.5–5 cm long, green to blackish (when the petiole so), differentiated from the limb by a distinct constriction; limb 6.2–12.5 cm long, lanceolate, whitish, loosening but hardly opening at anthesis, caducous. Spadix 6.5–11(–15.2) cm long, slender subcylindric, usually c. ¾ (but occasionally subequalling) the length of the spathe; female zone 2–4 cm long, adnate to the spathe in the lower ½–¾, 6–8(–10) mm diam. in the middle, distally slightly conoid to (3–)4(–6) mm diam. at the top; pistils subglobose to bottle-shaped to subcylindric, 0.5–0.7 mm diam.; stigma sessile, discoid, papillate, c. 0.5 mm diam.; interpistillar staminodes densely to sparsely scattered among the pistils, sometimes also in a complete to much-broken row along the spathe/spadix adnation, about equalling to twice the height of the pistils, short- to long-stalked, narrowly to broadly clavate, round- to flat-topped; sterile interstice absent, occasionally a few shorter staminodes concentrated at the top of the female zone but then intermixed with fertile elements; interface of female and male zones or lower part of male zone sometimes (when spadix relatively thick) attenuated by spathe constriction, or more usually isodiametric with rest of male zone; male zone 2–3.5 cm long × 3–4(–6) mm thick, about ⅓ (rarely only the extreme base) held within the lower part of the spathe chamber, cylindric (unless lower part attenuate by spathe constriction), ivory white; stamens crowded, truncate, dumbbell-shaped, with the connective not elevated above the thecae, c. 0.5 mm across; appendix 2.5–4.5(–7.2) cm long, usually basally isodiametric with male zone and then subcylindric, tapering to a fine or blunt point, occasionally slightly wider that top of male zone at base, occasionally wider (to 5 mm diam.) above the base, thence tapering; staminodes of appendix with rounded to pointed tips, densely arranged, c. 0.3–0.5 (–0.7) mm diam. Fruiting spathe narrowly urceolate, to c. 5 cm long.