Dracontium gigas (Seem.) Engl.

Tuber hemispherical, up to 20cm diam., 12cm thick, flat above, rounded and white to brown below, 5-60cm below ground level; tubercles few, cylindrically elongated, 0.5-1 × 1-2cm, borne around the periphery of tuber; roots 0.4cm diam., white; cataphylls 4 to 7, up to 40cm long (to 5cm long above ground level), 4-10cm wide, pink to light brown (when dry). Leaves solitary or sometimes two or more per tuber; petioles up to 3.4m long above ground, up to 9.5cm diam. at midpoint, dark green, contrastingly mottled with dirty white or pale green blotches, usually smooth in upper half and with irregular protuberances in lower half; juvenile blade sagittate, or sagittately lobed; mature blades spreading horizontally, 1.5-2.5m diam., subcoriaceous, rarely fenestrate, never variegated, without raphide cells or dark markings, glossy and medium green above, semiglossy and medium green below; middle division 3 times or more trichotomously branched, 1.4 x 1.8cm, with terminal subdivision consisting of 3 sections, with each basal subdivision consisting of many segments; lateral divisions 3 times or more dichotomously branched, 1.3 × 1.6cm, with terminal subdivision consisting of 2 sections, with basal subdivision consisting of many segments; terminal and subterminal sections confluent, each consisting of main segments; leaf segments often bilobed or rarely trilobed, oblanceolate or triangular, mostly confluent with each other in each division, often with contrastingly smaller rounded or triangular segments alternating with larger segments; apices often caudate, or sometimes acute; ultimate segments 10-16(-20)cm long, confluent with penultimate segments; other segments 10-20 cm long; penultimate segments confluent with the subterminal sections; medial segments confluent with the basal subdivisions; basal segments present, confluent with each other; rachises patterned similar to petiole but in much paler shades, smooth; tertiary veins conspicuous above and obscure below; bracteoles 3 or 4, 10-60 × (sometimes 5-10cm above ground level) 4-6cm, light brown, the longest one much shorter than the peduncle, confined at the base of the peduncle. Inflorescence solitary, appearing before new leaf; peduncle 30-120cm long above ground, 3.5-6 cm diam. at midpoint, less than half as long as the petiole, mottled similar to petiole but deeper in color, dark green or brownish green, with irregular protuberances in lower half; spathe 58-78 × 13-15(-21)cm, cymbiform, cucullate, erect or slightly arching, apex obtuse; inner surface semiglossy, red-purple or purple-red, with a translucent area obvious, 4-6.5cm high, shorter than spadix; outer surface maroon tinged brown, matte; margins entire, broadly overlapping in the lower two-thirds; veins purple, obscure inside and outside (slightly impressed inside), conspicuously darker or paler than the spathe on top; spadix hidden, sessile or stipitate, cylindric, brown-purple, 9-16 × 1.5-1.8cm at anthesis, never with appendages at apex. Flower tepals 6 to 8(9), 3.5-5mm long, 1.5-2mm wide, light brown tinged green; stamens 8 to 17(19); filaments 1-3.5mm long; anthers 1-1.5mm long, completely exserted; ovary 3- to 4-locular, pale green; stigma 3-lobed; style 4-6mm long above tepals, dark purple, persistent. Infructescence with spadix 20-30cm long, 4-6cm diam. in fruit; berries often 2-seeded, 1.8 × 1.5cm, 4- to 5-angular or globose (rarely), apically truncate; young berry unknown; mature berry orange or purple-brown, with or without some reddish dots or raphide cells; seeds 1-1.2cm diam., rounded, reddish brown, laterally raised; dorsal ridges obvious, 3, continuous, less than 0.5mm thick.