Dracontium plowmanii G.H.Zhu & Croat

Tuber hemispherical, 10-20cm diam., 6-9cm thick, flat above, rounded and white to brown below, 5-18cm below ground level; tubercles few, rounded or cylindrically elongated, 0.5-0.8cm diam., 0.8-1cm long, borne around the periphery of tuber; roots white, strong; cataphylls 2 to 3, 5.5- 18  2-4 cm, light brown, reaching or surpassing ground level. Leaves solitary; petioles 1-2m long above ground, 3-4cm diam. at midpoint, 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 blades spreading horizontally, 1-1.2m diam., thinly coriaceous, sometimes fenestrate throughout the blade, never variegated, without raphide cells or dark markings, glossy and dark green above, semiglossy and medium green below; middle division twice trichotomously branched, 45-58  40-60cm, with terminal subdivision consisting of 3 sections, with each basal subdivision consisting of many segments; lateral divisions twice dichotomously branched, 45-55  40-55 cm, with terminal subdivision consisting of 2 sections, with basal subdivision consisting of many segments; terminal and subterminal sections free, each consisting of a few segments; leaf segments bilobed, broadly oblanceolate, more than 5cm wide on each side of the major ribs, ovate or oblong, 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; ultimate segments 10-20cm long, confluent with penultimate segments; other segments 6.5-19cm long; penultimate segments confluent with the 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 conspicuous below; bracteoles 2 or 3, 4-20  2.5-4cm, pink to dark brown, the longest one much shorter than the peduncle, partially covering the base of the peduncle. Inflorescence solitary, appearing before new leaf; peduncle 30-70cm long above ground, 1-2cm diam. at midpoint, less than half as long as the petiole, mottled similar to petiole but deeper in color, brownish green, smooth; spathe (10-)13-20(-28)cm long, (1-)2.5-3.5(-6)cm wide, cymbiform or non-cymbiform, constricted at a certain point and differentiated into a proximal tube and a distal lamina (blade), cucullate or noncucullate, erect or slightly arching, apex acuminate; inner surface glossy, purple-red, with translucent area obvious, 3-4cm high, shorter than spadix or as long as spadix; outer surface maroon, matte; margins wrinkled and some-times lobed on each side, broadly overlapping at the base; veins conspicuous inside and raised out-side, similar to the spathe in color; spadix hidden, stipitate, cylindric, brown or brown-purple, 3-4.9  0.8-1.2cm at anthesis, never with appendages at apex; stipe 0.5-0.7cm long, 0.4-0.6 cm diam. at anthesis. Flower tepals 4 to 6, 1-2.5  0.5-1mm, light brown tinged green or brown-purple; stamens 6 to 9; filaments 0.7-2.2mm long; anthers 0.5mm long, slightly exserted; ovary 3-locular, pale green; stigma 3-lobed; style 1-2mm long above tepals, purple, persistent. Infructescence with spadix 6-15cm long, 2-2.5cm diam. in fruit; berries 1- to 3-seeded, 0.7-1cm diam., 0.5-0.7cm thick, subglobose, 4- to 5-angular, apically truncate; young berries dark green; mature berries' color unknown, drying with abundant reddish dots; seeds 0.4-0.6cm diam., reniform, light brown, laterally raised; dorsal ridge 1, obvious, continuous, more than 1mm thick, 0.5mm high, smooth on both sides.