Homalomena gastrofructa
Medium to moderately robust, evergreen, glabrous, strongly aromatic (lime and anethol) herbs 80 - 120 cm tall. Stem pleionanthic, erect to decumbent, ca. 4 cm thick, reddish brown, with few conspicuous adventitious brownish roots penetrating the petiole bases, internodes to ca. 1.7 cm long. Leaves 4 - 8 together, modules beginning with a conspicuous 2-keeled short-duration prophyll, pale pink, rarely pale green; petiole erect to spreading, ca. 88 cm long 3 8 - 11 mm wide, terete, adaxially slightly grooved, pulvinate ca. 1/5 way back from leaf blade insertion, pale red, red, dark red, rarely medium green, with obscure scattered longitudinal pale green ridges, slightly matte; bases clasping, pink or green; petiolar sheath ca. 25 cm long, ca. 1/3 of petiole length, pale to dark red, rarely medium green, wings up to 12 mm wide, open, convolute, rounded and weakly decurrent at apex, sheath initially persistent, soon marcescent along the margin, eventually whole sheath marcescent; blade broadly ovato-cordate to cordiform, 35 - 40 cm long x 25 - 35 cm wide, thinly rubbery-leathery, conspicuously quilted between the primary lateral veins, with conspicuous areolate-punctate glands notably visible on the young leaf blades, blade medium green adaxially, paler abaxially, drying uniformly pale yellow, base cordate, posterior lobes sub-triangular, ca. 16 cm long, tip obtuse to somewhat acuminate or cuspidate for ca. 1.5 cm, then mucronate for ca. 0.5 mm, mucrored;midribraiseabaxially,ca.12mm wide at the base, ca. 3 mm wide at the centre, adaxially flush with blade, ca. 8 mm at the base, ca. 4 mm at the centre; primary lateral veins ca. 12 on each side, diverging at 30° - 90° from the midrib, adaxially impressed, abaxially raised, curved sharply towards the apex when near the margin; interprimary veins raised, ca. 1 mm in width, alternating irregularly with primaries, posterior lobes each with ca. 3 primary lateral veins; secondary venation rather obscure; tertiary venation not visible, all veins running into a thickened intermarginal vein. Inflorescences 1 - 7 together, erect, odour anethole, intense at onset of pistillate and staminate anthesis, reducing during inter-anthesis and post-anthesis, the first inflorescence subtended by a green foliage leaf, subsequently each subtended by a soon degrading pale red prophyll, 5 - 7 cm long x ca. 7 mm wide, wing ca. 9.5 mm wide, ca. 2.5 mm red mucro; peduncle 7.5 - 13 cm long x 5 - 8 mm wide, pale red, red rarely medium green, with obscure pale white longitudinal striate, matte, terete. Spathe up to 12 cm long, lower spathe inflating with margin partially loosening, subsequently spathe limb loosening, inflating and then opening almost flat at the onset of pistillate anthesis, turning pale pink immediately after staminate anthesis, spathe exterior white, the centre faintly yellowish green, inner spathe glossy white; lower spathe ovoid-ellipsoid, ca. 5 cm long 3 ca. 3.2 cm wide at pistillate anthesis; spathe limb ca. 5.5 cm long x ca. 2.8 cm wide at pistillate anthesis, ovato-triangular, slightly furled at pistillate anthesis, ca. 4 mm pale red mucro. Spadix 7 - 12 cm, stipitate, cylindrical, slightly sigmoid, shorter than spathe limb prior to pistillate anthesis but 4 - 10 mm exceeding the spathe limb by the time of pistillate anthesis; stipe 5 - 8 mm long x ca. 4.5 mm width, slightly fusiform-cylindrical, inserted slightly obliquely on peduncle, glossy greenish; pistillate zone 2.5 - 3 cm long 3 ca. 8 mm wide, ca. 1/4 length of spadix, weakly fusiform-cylindrical; pistils weakly globose-cylindrical, 1.3 - 2 mm in diam., densely arranged when fresh, yellowish white, pale brown in alcohol, covered with pale grey stigmatic exuding; each pistil associated with 3 - 4 interpistillar staminodes; style barely differentiated; stigma globose-capitate, smaller than ovary diam., slightly truncate, ca. 0.9 mm in diam., wet and yellowish white at pistillate anthesis, staining grey in alcohol; interpistillar staminodes slender stipitate, tip abruptly globose, ca. 0.5 long x c. 0.1 mm wide, waxy white, remaining waxy white in alcohol; suprapistillar interstice zone absent; staminate zone ca. 8 cm long x ca. 5.5 mm wide, ca. 3/4 length of spadix, staminate constriction 1/8 way along from the base, not coinciding with the spathe constriction; staminate flowers ca. 1.2 mm in diam., polygonal, each comprising 4 - 5 truncate stamens, rarely up to 8, overtopped by white flat connective tissue, flower size much large in the upper half of the staminate flower zone, white, slightly pale brown in alcohol; resin secreted in the cavities between the individual flowers but never forming droplets on the surface of the staminate flowers; pollen in strings, white, mixing with resin to form a yellowish past. Infructescences 1 - 7, declinate to pendent, spathe entirely persistent, red, dark red and rarely medium green; base of peduncle green to pale pink, with pale green longitudinal striate, matte; lower fruiting spathe 4.5 - 5.3 cm long x ca. 2.4 cm wide, splitting upwards from base to reveal the ripen fruits; fruiting spathe limb ca. 6 cm long x ca. 8.7 mm wide, dark red; fruits 2 - 3 3 larger than ovary, 4 - 5.8 mm height, 2.5 - 5.3 mm diam., pale green, ripening pale red; stigma impressed, 9 - 1.3 mm in diam., rounded, orange brown; stipe white; staminate zone becoming greyish brown, then degrading into a viscous liquid, smelling of fermenting fruit (decaying banana); pistillate zone smelling of lime; seeds ca. 0.3 mm diam., ellipsoid, pale green.
Known only from the type locality, where it is abundant and occurs sympatrically with Homalomena baangongensis (see above).
Lowland moist to wet evergreen forest on karst limestone, occurring along muddy trail margins and in shaded areasalong and beside streams; 70 - 75m asl.