Araceae
Alocasia megawatiae Yuzammi & A.Hay
SUMMARY
Massive subarborescent pachycaul herb ca. 2.5 m high or more. Stem erect to decumbent, to 25 cm in diam., to over 1 m long. Leaves several together, held almost horizontally; petiole ca. 1.5 m long, hairy, with small white glands scattered up to upper petiole sheath, light green, sometimes with red-purple vertical tiny lines, sheathing ca. 1/3 from the base of petiole; wing of sheath out-rolled; blade cordate-sagittate, 68-95 cm long, 55-72 cm wide, leathery, dark-green, glossy and glabrous adaxially, pale green and pubescent abaxially, with undulate margin; anterior lobe 54-75 cm long with apiculate tip ca. 1 cm long; anterior costa prominent on both surfaces, glabrous adaxially, pubescent abaxially; primary veins 7-9 on each side, prominent on both surfaces, diverging at 45°-60°, with conspicuous glands in their axils, glabrous adaxially, hairy abaxially; secondary veins flush with lamina adaxially, raised and somewhat pubescent abaxially; interprimary collective veins well-defined; submarginal vein ca. 3 mm from the margin; posterior lobes 30-36 cm long, rounded; posterior costae naked in the sinus for 3-4 cm. Inflorescences clustered in the center of the leaf crown, up to 26 together; peduncle greenish, hairy, ca. 30 cm long, 1 cm diam., thickening slightly in fruit, erect, sometimes somewhat curved (but not declinate) after anthesis. Spathe ca. 17 cm long, somewhat constricted level with upper part of male zone of the spadix; lower spathe very elongate, somewhat cylindric, convolute, ca. 6 cm long, ivory with scattered reddish-purple spots concentrated near the junction of spathe and peduncle; limb boat-shaped, ca. 11 cm long, ivory, with the margins reddish-purple at the base only, greenish at tip, erect then fully reflexed at anthesis. Spadix terete, subcylindric, attenuate at the tip, slightly shorter than spathe, stipe ca. 2 mm; female zone ca. 2.5 cm long, ca. 1 cm diam.; pistils closely packed; ovary sub-globose, yellowish-green, ca. 2 mm long, unilocular, 3-5 ovules, with basal placenta; style terete, ivory, 1-1.5 mm long; stigma yellowish, turning red purple in spirit, 2- 3-lobed, lobes rounded; sterile zone ca. 4 mm long, ca. 8 mm in cliam., creamy, slightly narrower than the fertile zones; synandrodia in ca. 2 whorls, somewhat rounded to hexagonal, more or less flat-topped, ca. 1.5- 2 mm in diam.; male zone whitish, ca. 4 cm long, ca. 1 cm in diam., terete, almost completely contained within the lower spathe chamber; synandria rhombo-hexagonal, 1.5-2 mm in diam.; thecae opening through apical pores not overtopped by synconnective; synconnective somewhat impressed; appendix pale orange, about as thick as male zone, slightly over half the length of the whole spadix, tapering to a pointed tip. Fnuiting pedun.cle to ca. 40 cm long, erect; fruiting spathe ca. 9 cm long, ovoid, white with scattered elliptic horizontally aligned flecks, basipetally dehiscent and revolute revealing bright red berries (Fig. 1).