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Araceae
Dracontium prancei G.H.Zhu & Croat
SUMMARY
Tuber hemispherical, 8-14cm diam., 6-9cm thick, flat above, rounded and white to brown below, 10-15cm below ground level; tubercles abundant, rounded, 0.5-1cm diam., borne around the periphery of tuber; roots whitish, to 0.3mm diam.; cataphylls 4 or 5, 4-20cm long, 2.5-4cm wide, pink to light brown, 5-15cm long above ground. Leaves solitary or sometimes two or more per tuber; petioles 1.6-2.5m long above ground, 2.5-3.5cm diam. at midpoint, dark green, contrastingly mottled with dirty white or pale green blotches and forming a reptilian pattern, usually smooth in upper half and with irregular protuberances in lower half; juvenile blade sagittate, or sagittately lobed; mature blade spreading horizontally, 1-1.2m diam., papyraceous, sometimes fenestrate, never variegated, without raphide cells or dark markings, glossy and medium green above, semiglossy and medium green below; middle division twice trichotomously branched, 55-65 × 50-60 cm, with terminal subdivision consisting of 3 sections, with each basal subdivision consisting of many segments; lateral divisions once or twice dichotomously branched, 50- 60 × 55-60 cm, with terminal subdivision consisting of 2 sections, with basal subdivision consisting of many segments; terminal and subterminal sections free from each other, each consisting of many segments; leaf segments often entire, broadly oblanceolate, more than 5cm wide on each side of the major ribs, oblanceolate, mostly free from each other in each division, without contrastingly smaller rounded or triangular segments; apices acuminate; ultimate segments 10-13cm long, free from penultimate segments; other segments 3-12cm long; penultimate segments free from the subterminal sections; medial segments free from basal subdivisions; basal segments present, free from each other; rachises patterned distinct from petiole, pale green, smooth; tertiary veins conspicuous above and weakly raised below; bracteoles 3 or 4, 7-14cm long, 3-5cm wide, pink and light brown, the longest one longer than the peduncle, slightly covering the base of the spathe. Inflorescence solitary or sometimes two, appearing before new leaf; peduncle 1-5cm long above ground, 1-1.2cm diam. at midpoint, often almost completely subterranean, scarcely mottled, brownish green or whitish tinged pink, smooth; spathe (10-)15-18cm long, 3.2-4cm wide, cymbiform, cucullate, arching up to 45o, apex acuminate; inner surface semiglossy or velvety, maroon or blackish purple, with translucent area obvious, 0.5-1cm high, shorter than spadix; outer surface maroon (sometimes tinged green), matte; margins entire, broadly overlapping in the lower two-thirds; veins obscure inside and raised outside, conspicuously darker or paler than the spathe; spadix hidden, stipitate, cylindric, narrower at apex, purple or brownish purple, (2.5-)4-5 × 0.9-1.2cm at anthesis, never with appendages at apex; stipe 0.5-0.8cm long, 0.5-0.7cm diam. at anthesis, purple. Flower tepals 5, 1.5-2.5mm long, 1-2mm wide, purple or brownish purple; stamens 6 or 7; filaments 1-2.5mm long; anthers 0.5mm long, completely exserted; ovary 3-locular, pale green; stigma 3-lobed; style 1-2mm long above tepals, purple, persistent. Infructescence with spadix 5.5cm long, 2.4cm diam. in fruit; berries 1-seeded, 1-1.2cm diam., 0.8-1cm thick, subglobose, 3- to 6-angular, apically truncate; young berries light green; mature berries color unknown, with abundant raphide cells; seeds 0.5-0.6cm diam., reniform, light brown or dark brown, laterally flattened; sparsely beset with irregular warts dorsally, dorsal ridges obscure.