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Araceae
Dracontium pittieri Engl.
SUMMARY
Tuber hemispherical, 14-20cm diam., 6-8cm thick, flat above, rounded and white to brown below, 20-40cm below ground level; tubercles abundant, irregular-shaped, 0.3-1.5cm long, borne around the periphery of tuber; roots white, to 3mm diam.; cataphylls 3 to 5, 4-40 × 4-7cm, light brown, reaching or surpassing ground level. Leaves solitary; petioles 1.8-4m long above ground, 5-8cm diam. at midpoint, dark green or brownish green, contrastingly mottled with dirty white or pale green blotches and forming a reptilian pattern, smooth or usually with spiny projections; juvenile blade sagittate, or sagittately lobed; mature blade spreading horizontally, 1.2-2m diam., subcoriaceous or thinly coriaceous, rarely fenestrate, never variegated, with abundant raphide cells (some-times), glossy and dark green above, semiglossy and medium green below; middle division 3 or more times trichotomously branched, 80-120 × 50-100cm, with terminal subdivision consisting of 3 sections, with each basal subdivision consisting of many segments; lateral divisions 3 or more times dichotomously branched, 70-120 × 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; leaf segments bilobed or trilobed, broadly oblanceolate, more than 5cm wide on each side of the major ribs, oblanceolate or lanceolate-ovate or triangular, mostly confluent with each other in each division, often with contrastingly smaller rounded or triangular segments alternating with larger segments; apices narrowly acuminate, or caudate; ultimate segments 10-20cm long, confluent with penultimate segments; other segments 10-30cm long; penultimate segments confluent with the subterminal sections; medial segments confluent with the basal subdivisions; basal segments present, confluent with each other; rachises patterned distinct from petiole, pale green, smooth; tertiary veins obscure above, or conspicuous below; bracteoles 3 or 4, 4-40cm long, 5-7cm wide, pinkish, the longest one much shorter than the peduncle, confined at the base. Inflorescence solitary, appearing before new leaf; peduncle 150-250cm long above ground, 4-6cm diam. at midpoint, more than half as long as the petiole, mottled similar to petiole but deeper in color, dark green, smooth or with irregular protuberances; spathe 30-50(70)cm long, 8-12cm wide, cymbiform, non-cucullate, erect or slightly arching, apex obtuse; inner surface semiglossy, maroon or olive-brown or red-purple, with translucent area obvious, (5)10-17cm high, 1.5 to 3 times longer than spadix; outer surface maroon, matte; margins entire, hardly overlapping at the base; veins obscure inside or raised outside, similar to the spathe in color; spadix exposed, sessile, cylindric, brown-purple (tinged green) or purple, 4-9 1- 1.5cm at anthesis, never with appendages at apex. Flower tepals (4)5 or 6(9), 3-4mm long, 1-1.5mm wide, brownish purple or dark purple; stamens 12 to 15; filaments 2-3mm long; anthers 1mm long, slightly exserted; ovary bilocular, whitish; stigma (2)3(4)-lobed; style 3-4mm long above tepals, purple, persistent. Infructescence with spadix 10-20cm long, 3-4cm diam. in fruit; berries 2-seeded, 0.6- 1.2cm diam., 0.9-1.3cm long, subglobose, 3- to 6-angular, apically truncate; young berries medium green; mature berries orange, with abundant raphide cells; seeds 0.9-1.1cm diam., reniform or triangular, light brown, laterally flattened; dorsal ridges obvious, 1, continuous, more than 1mm thick, 0.5-1mm high, warty along both sides, appearing as strongly reduced lateral ridges.