Dracontium asperum K.Koch

Tuber hemispherical, 4-16 × 3-8cm, flat or slightly convex above, rounded and whitish to brownish below, 15-35cm below ground level; tubercles abundant, cylindrically elongated, 0.5-1 × 1-3cm, borne around the periphery of tuber; roots white, 2-3mm diam.; cataphylls 1 to 3, 14-35 × 2-5.5cm, pinkish or light brown, reaching or surpassing ground level. Leaves solitary or sometimes 2 or more per tuber; petioles 1-2m long above ground, 2-4cm diam. at midpoint, gray or whitish green (especially when young) or medium-green tinged brown, scarcely mottled, usually smooth in upper half and with irregular protuberances in lower half; juvenile blade sagittate, or sagittately lobed; mature blades ascending to 45^o to the petiole spreading horizontally, 1-1.3m diam., papyraceous, rarely fenestrate, never variegated, without raphide cells or dark markings, glossy and medium green above, glossy and dark green below; middle division twice trichotomously branched, 1-1.2cm long, 0.9-1.1cm wide, with terminal subdivision consisting of three sections, with each basal subdivision consisting of many segments; lateral divisions 3 times or more dichotomously branched, 0.75-0.98 × 0.8-1cm, with terminal subdivision consisting of 2 sections, with basal subdivision consisting of many segments; terminal and subterminal sections free, each consisting of many segments; leaf segments bilobed or irregularly lobed, broadly oblanceolate, more than 5cm wide on each side of the major ribs, ovate or oblanceolate, at least some of the basal segments free from each other, often with contrastingly smaller rounded or triangular segments alternating with larger segments; apices acuminate, or acute (rarely); ultimate segments 12-20cm long, free from penultimate segments; other segments 6-15cm long; penultimate segments not free from subterminal sections; medial segments confluent with the basal subdivisions; basal segments present, free from each other; rachises patterned similar to petiole but in much paler shades, with spiny projections (sometimes); tertiary veins conspicuous above and weakly raised below; bracteoles 1 or 2, 4.5-37 × 1.5-3cm, dark brown mottled with light brown, the longest one much shorter than the peduncle, confined at the base. Inflorescence usually solitary, rarely 2, appearing before new leaf; peduncle 5-17cm long above ground, 0.5-0.8cm diam. at midpoint, less than half as long as the petiole, mottled similar to petiole but deeper in color, brown-green, often with irregular protuberances; spathe (10)13-20 × 3-5cm, cymbiform, cucullate, often arching 45^o-90^o, apex acuminate; inner surface velvety, maroon or purple-red or red-purple, with the translucent area obvious, 1-2cm high, shorter than spadix; outer surface maroon, tinged green or dark purple, matte; margins entire, hardly overlapping at the base; veins obscure or obvious inside andl outside, similar to the spathe in color, marcescent on developing infructescence; spadix exposed, sessile, cylindric, purple, 2.6-4 × 0.8-1.1cm at anthesis, never with appendages at apex; flower tepals (4 to)5 or 6(to 7), 3-4mm long, 1-2mm wide, dark purple; stamlens (5)6 or 7; filaments 3-4.5mm long; anthers 1-1.5mm long, completely exserted; ovary 3- or 4-locular, pale green; stigmia 2- or 3-lobed; style 1- 3mm long above tepals, dark purple, persistent. Infructescence with spadix 8-15 × 3-4cm in fruit; berries 0.8-1.2cm diam., 0.8-1cm thick, subglobose, 3- to 6-angular, apically subtruncate; young berry light green; mature berry purplish brown, with abundant reddish dots and raphide cells (dried berries); seeds 1- to 3-seeded, 0.5-0.7cm diam., triangular (±) or rounded, light brown, laterally depressed; dorsal ridges obvious, 3, continuous, more than 1mm thick, warty along both sides, these appearing as another set of strongly reduced lateral ridges.