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Araceae
Dracontium peruvianum G.H.Zhu & Croat
SUMMARY
Tuber hemispherical, 10-30 cm diam., 8-15cm thick, flat above, rounded and white to brown below, 15-45cm below ground level; tubercles few, rounded or cylindrically elongated, borne around the periphery of tuber: roots white, to 0.4 mm1 diam.; cataphylls 1 or 2, 10-50 × 2.5-4cm, reaching or surpassing ground level. Leaves solitary; petioles 2-6m long above ground, 3.6-5 cm diam. at midpoint, dark green (paler toward the apex), contrastingly mottled with dirty white or pale green blotches and forming a reptilian pattern, usually with spiny projections (especially in upper half or at the apex); juvenile blade sagittate, or sagittately lobed; mature blade spreading horizontally, 1.2-2m diam., thinly coriaceous, rarely fenestrate or sometimes fenestrate throughout the blade (in young leaves), never variegated, lacking raphide cells or dark markings, semiglossy and dark green above, matte and medium green below; middle division twice trichotomously branched, 60-100 × 60-90cm, with terminal subdivision never divided into sections, with each basal subdivision consisting of many segments; lateral divisions twice dichotomously branched, 55-95 × 55-90cm, with terminal subdivision consisting of 2 sections, with basal subdivision consisting of many segments; terminal and subterminal sections confluent, each consisting of many segments; broadly oblanceolate, more than 5cm wide on each side of the major ribs, oblanceolate, at least some of the basal segments free from each other, without contrastingly smaller rounded or triangular segments; apices acute or acuminate; ultimate segments 20-27cm long, often confluent with penultimate segments; other segments 10-15cm long; penultimate segments free from subterminal sections; medial segments free from basal subdivisions; basal segments present, free from each other; rachises patterned similar to petiole but in much paler shades, smooth; tertiary veins obscure above and weakly raised below; bracteoles 1, 15-50cm long, 2-4cm wide, light brown, the longest one much shorter than the peduncle, confined at the base of the peduncle. Inflorescence solitary, appearing before new leaf; peduncle 60-115 × 1.5-6cm diam. at midpoint, less than half as long as the petiole, mottled similar to petiole but deeper in color, brownish green, with irregular protuberances in lower half and spiny projections (in upper half, especially at the apex); spathe (25-)30-50 × 6-10cm, cymbiform, noncucullate, erect or slightly arching, apex acuminate; inner surface semiglossy, maroon, with translucent area obvious, 5-8 (cm high, shorter than spadix; outer surface maroon tinged brown, matte; margins entire, slightly overlapping at the base; veins obscure inside and raised outside, conspicuously darker or paler than the spathe; spadix hidden, stipitate, cylindric, brown or brown-purple, 8-10.5 × 1-1.3 cm at anthesis, never with appendages at apex; stipe 0.5-2 × 0.5-1 cm at anthesis. Flower tepals 5 to 7, 1-2 × 1-2.5mm, light brown or brown-purple; stamens 7 to 11; filaments 1-1.5mm long; anthers 0.5mm long, hidden; ovary 3-locular, pale green; stigma 2- or 3-lobed; style 1-1.5mm long above tepals, brownish purple, persistent or not. Infructescence with spadix 23-35 × 2.8-3cm in fruit; berries 1- to 3-seeded, 0.5-1cm diam., 0.7-1cm thick, obliquely obovoid or globose, apically rounded or subtruncate; young berries medium green; mature berries orange, without reddish dots and raphide cells; seeds 0.7-1cm diam., rounded, dark brown, laterally raised; dorsal ridges obvious, 3, continuous or rarely strongly interrupted, with the central ridge contrastingly raised, more than 1mm thick, 1-2mm high, smooth on both sides.