Piptospatha loi
Solitary or slightly clumping rheophytic herb to 15 cm tall. Roots strong and adhering to bare, wet rocks, c. 1mm in diameter. Stem very short, to 10 mm in diameter, obscured by leaf bases. Leaves many together, arching, forming a dense rosette; petiole bases clasping stem; petiole 1–2 cm long, up to 2mm in diameter, D-shaped in cross-section with the dorsal margins crispulate-hyaline and reddish, petiole minutely but distinctly scabrous, pale to rather deep olive green; petiolar sheath with free ligular portion 1–2.5 cm long, marcescent and ultimately deciduous, very deep brown; leaf blades narrowly lanceolate, 4–9 cm long1–1.5 cm wide, base cuneate, apex acute with stout tubule c. 5mm long, blade medium semi glossy green adaxially, paler abaxially; mid-rib very slightly bluntly raised adaxially, rounded-raised and minutely scabrous abaxially; primary lateral veins c. 6 per side, parallel pinnate, impressed adaxially, slightly raised abaxially and tending to be red-flushed, at least on newer leaves; interprimary lateral veins much weaker than primary laterals, although still conspicuous, visible as semitranslucent lines running parallel to the primary laterals and joining a quite well defined submarginal collecting vein. Inflorescence solitary, erect; peduncle 8–11 cm long (at anthesis; fruiting peduncle not observed), c. 2mm in diameter, minutely scabrous, medium olive green. Spathe initially erect, later held at ca 90° to peduncle, not constricted, dark greenish pink in bud, opening with exposed spathe limb bright magenta-purple shading to deep purple pink distally, matte olive green basally and along the outer part of the convolution (held ventrally), basal part minutely scabrous; spathe limb inflated-pileate at anthesis, shedding during staminate anthesis, c. 3.4 cm long, the base ca 1 cm wide with a conspicuous ventral mentum c. 3mm long, limb mid-way inflated to c. 1.7 cm, then ventrally constricted and terminating in a tubule c. 4mm long. Spadix 15–17mm longc. 5mm in diameter, base slightly obliquely inserted onto a very short stipe; pistillate flower zone fertile to the base but one or two large (c. 11.2 mm) rhomboidal, rounded-topped cream, red-flushed staminodes inserted basally, cylindric, base rather abruptly obtuse and overhanging the stipe, c. 5mm long c. 4.5mm in diameter; pistils cylindrical, truncate, very congested, c. 0.6mm diameter, pale pinkish red; stigma with a slight central depression, papillate, as wide as ovary, pinkish cream; pistillate and staminate zones separated by a zone c. 2.3mm long, and somewhat wider than the remainder of the spadix, comprising of c. three whorls of irregularly arranged staminodes, these rhomboidal-polygonal, upper sides tapering basally, staminodes creamy yellow with a conspicuous but shallow depression (most) or suture running more or less diagonally (some); staminate flower zone equaling the pistillate zone in width, c. 9.5mm long c. 4.5mm in diameter, slightly tapering, apex blunt, pale pinkish white, the pink colour intensified along the connective; staminate flowers congested except at the tip of the spadix, comprised of very irregularly paired stamens, stamen more or less oblong, with a conspicuous notch on each end corresponding to the separation of individual thecae in each pair, c. 0.5mm wide c. 0.8mm long, connective weakly impressed, minutely pubescent (at high magnification); thecae lateral, c. 0.3 mm, ellipsoid and somewhat domed. Fruiting spathe, fruits and seeds not observed.
Flowering Piptospatha loi most closely resembles P. pileata S.Y. Wong and P.C. Boyce by the deep magenta-purple strongly rostrate spathe limb. However, P. loi is readily differentiated by the spathe basally with a prominent ventral mentum, by the larger, centrally impressed interstice staminodes held in a zone wider than the remainder of the spadix, the stamens irregularly arranged (not carried in two rows), and the proportionately longer staminate flower zone. The leaves of P. loi are only c. half as long as those of P. pileata, and much narrower; the entire plant is seldom exceeding 15 cm.
Malaysian Borneo, East Sabah, Bahagian Tawau; so far known from only two localities c. 80 km distant.
On bare or moss-covered basalt waterfall rocks under perhumid lowland forest; 200–300m a.s.l.