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Araceae
Schismatoglottis scintillans Scherberich & P. C. Boyce
Nomenclature
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Family: AraceaeGenus: Schismatoglottis
SUMMARY
Clumping to weakly colonial mesophytic herb to 30 cm tall. Stem hypogeal, modules hapaxanthic, dense, c. 1 cm in diam. Leaves up to 5 together; petiole longer than blade, to c. 25 cm long, D-shaped in cross-section, with slightly raised dorsal margins, these merging abaxially with the basal veins of the leaf blade, glabrous, appearing very minutely glandular-vesicular under a (strong) lens, longitudinally weakly ridged, especially on flat side; petiolar sheath 0.3 – 0.4 × as long as petiole; wings of sheath fully attached, tapering, sometimes with a short (2 – 3 mm long) ligular portion apically, wings retuse or emarginate, persistent; blade ovate-sagittate, 5.7 – 20.5 cm long × 3.8 – 12.3 cm wide, adaxially mid- to dark green, velvety, variegated with a greyish irregular central band along midrib and a band on both sides between the midrib and margin, distinctly paler abaxially, base cordate with spreading rounded posterior lobes to 6 cm long, the tip acute and apiculate, distinctly greyish for the top 2 – 4 cm; midrib barely prominent adaxially, distinctly raised on abaxial side, with 4 – 9 primary lateral veins on each side, regularly alternating with lesser interprimaries and diverging at 60° – 65°, gradually curving towards the apex before reaching intermarginal collecting vein, the basal veins usually branched, giving off 1 or 2 veins similar in size to the interprimaries; secondary venation arising from the midrib and from along the lower c. 1/3 of the proximal primary veins; tertiary venation obscure. Inflorescence solitary; peduncle 10 – 12.5 cm long, subtended by a somewhat reduced foliage leaf or a short cataphyll. Spathe to 10.5 cm long; lower spathe narrowly ovoid, 4.5 – 4.8 cm long, differentiated from the limb by a moderate constriction, dark green, interior glossy, exterior semi-glossy and verruculose; limb broadly ovate, c. 6 cm long, whitish outside but light green inside, inflated over the appendix, caducous and ripping into pieces at anthesis. Spadix shorter than spathe, c. 7.8 cm long, slender, subcylindric, sessile; pistillate flower zone c. 3.2 cm long, adnate to the spathe for c. 2.8 cm, c. 1 cm wide in the middle, distally slightly conic, c. 0.7 cm in diam. At the top, light green; pistils many, crowded; ovaries subglobose, laterally compressed and longitudinally faintly 2 – 4-lobed, c. 1 mm in diam., unilocular with parietal placentation; stigma sessile, button-like, papillate, about as wide as the ovary; interpistillar staminodes scattered among the pistils, essentially peripheral, a few concentrated at the base, subcylindric, subtruncate, slightly exceeding the pistils, occasionally much exceeding them; sterile interstice absent; staminate flower zone cylindric, 2.2 – 2.4 cm long × 5 – 6 mm in diam., the basal half held within the lower spathe chamber, yellowish-ivory; stamens densely crowded, truncate, c. 0.5 mm in diam., dumbbell-shaped; appendix subequalling or shorter than staminate zone, 2.2 – 2.4 cm long, bullet-shaped, the base abruptly wider than top of staminate zone, c. 8 mm in diam., yellow when fresh, turning white in alcohol; appendix staminodes columnar, irregularly polygonal, sometimes 2 connate, with rounded tips, c. 0.5 mm in diam. Infructescence unknown.