Araceae
Pichinia disticha S.Y.Wong & P.C.Boyce
SUMMARY
Mesophytic lithophyte up to 40 cm tall. Stem creeping to erect, up to 10 × 2 cm diam. Leaves many, distichously arranged, each module with prophyll, a cataphyll (both long persistent), up to 7 cm long, and a single foliage leaf; petiole D-shaped, puberulent, up to 12 × 1 cm diam., petiolar sheath with a long persistent free ligular portion up to 7 cm long; lamina oblonceolate, up to 25 × 9 cm, softly chartaceous, base ovate to cuneate, apex acuminate, with a short tubular mucro, up to 2 mm long, this soon marcescent, brown; lamina matte pale olive-green , abaxially greyish glaucous; primary lateral venation pinnate, up to 11 per side, prominent abaxially, sunken adaxially, interprimary venation barely distinguished from primaries; secondary venation pinnate, running parallel with primary veins, tertiary venation obscure. Inflorescence solitary, erect, smelling weakly esteric at anthesis; peduncle terete, pale green, up to 8 cm long; spathe up to 8 cm long; lower spathe mid green with darker longitudinal veins, ca 3 cm long, strongly oblique at insertion, with a ventral triangular gap sometimes forming during female anthesis and closing prior to male anthesis, barely constricted in between upper and lower spathe, spathe limb broadly triangular, ca 5 × 3 cm, white, caducous in a single piece, in interior surface at first shiny, then degrading into raised scales prior to falling; spadix exceeding or at least equalling spathe, ca 7 cm × 8 mm, conoid-cylindrical; female flower zone cylindrical, attenuate distally, ca 3 cm long; ovary ellipsoid-cylindrical, pale green; stigma overtopping ovary, translucent white; interpistillodes absent; interstice present, wider than female flower zone, with pistillodes proximally, these smaller than pistil, light orange, and staminodes distally, these similar to stamens, whitish yellow; male flower zone short, ca 1 cm long; stamens irregular, crowded, whitish yellow, ca 2 mm diam., pores apical, pollen extruded in strings; appendix ca 1.5 cm long, tapering-conic, appendiccal staminodes crowded, irregular, pale whitish yellow.