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Araceae
Dieffenbachia crebripistillata Croat
SUMMARY
Short, thick-stemmed herb, 3()-1()()(120) cm tall; sap foul-smelling, eventually turning white; inter- nodes dark green, glossy, 2.5-4 cm long, 1.5-3(5) cm diam.; petio1Kes 7..S-24 cm long (averaging 16 e m long), somewhat spongy, solid dark green or with a white band on the abaxial surface, conspicuously sheathed ranging from 0.7 to fully through- out the length but rarely ending mole than 1 cm below the blade and often extending beyond the base of the blade; sheath to 1.5 cm high, 7.5-19.5 em long, inequilaterally rounded to auriculate at apex; unsheathed portion usually not apparent but when present 1-7 cm long (average 1.6 cm long), broadly sulcate, the margins sharp; blades ovate to rarely elliptic or oblong-elliptic, (22)27-46(55) cm long, 10-25 cm wide (averaging 37 x 18 cm), 1.5- 3.3 times longer than wide (averaging 1.9 times longer), 1.9-3.7 times longer than petioles (aver- aging 2.3 times longer than petiole)* somewhat in- equilateral, one side up to 0.5-2.7 cmm wider, moderately coriaceous, abruptly acuminate and downturned at apex, obtuse to rounded at base, the basal portion of the blades held somewhat erect; upper surface glossy to moderately glossy, usually solid dark green sometimes mottled with pale green, slightly bicolorous; lower surface glossy, paler; midrib flat-raised to flat-rounded and paler especially near base, 12-20 mm wide, becoming obtusely convex toward apex and diminishing before reaching the apex above, broadly flat-rounded to narrowly rounded and pale green to white below (especially near the base); primary lateral veins (10)15 to 17 per side, sunken to weakly sunken above, raised below; interprimary veins obscure above, obscurely visible below; minor veins moderately distinct on lower surface. INFLORESCENCES 1 to 2 per axil; peduncle (8.5)10-14 cm long, flattened laterally, pale green; spathe 13-28 cm long, 1.3-1.5 times longer than peduncle, pale to medium green outside (sometimes white at an- thesis), paler within, unmarked, ± oblong, acuminate at apex, only weakly constricted midway (constricted area to 3.2 cm wide when flattened); spathe tube 1.5-3 cm wide when furled, 8-8.5 cm wide when flattened; spathe blade to 2.0-3.2 cm wide when furled; spadix 13-26.5 cm long (averaging 18 cm long), the free portion 8.5-11 cm long; pistillate portion 6-10(12) cm long, 8-12 mm wide; fertile staminate portion 5-9 cm long, 6-10 mm diam.; the mostly sterile intermediate portion (1)1.5-2.5 cm long, with some sterile male flowers in the up- per 1/3; pistils (57)80 to 100, scattered, frequently adjacent, up to 5 in a row across the width of the spadix, never more than 5 mm apart; stigmas pale orange, densely pubescent; staminodia white, + ob- long, ca. 2-3 mm long, rounded at apex; synandria irregularly rounded at apex, smooth or weakly dimpled medially, to 2.6-2.8 mm diam.; pollen exserted in slender cream-colored threads to 3 mm long. INFRUCTESCENES with berries ovoid to subellipsoid, orange to bright red, 8-11 mm long.