Homalomena hypsiantha P.C. Boyce & S.Y. Wong

Small evergreen mesophytic rosetteforming herbs to ca 7 cm tall and 14 cm diam., with very slightly aromatic (terpenoids) vegetative tissues. Stem pleionanthic, erect ca 10 mm thick, deep red, internodes to ca 2 mm long, but obscured by clasping leaf bases. Leaves 5-10 together; petiole weakly Dshaped, with distal portion shallowly sulcate, ca 3 cm long, sub-microscopically puberulent and with very slight longitudinal ridges, basal 1 cm (including the sheathing base) scarlet, remainder shading to orangish green and then green; non-clasping part of petiolar sheath up to 5 mm long, scarlet, wings closed, unequal, the wider overlapping the narrower, wing margins hyaline, crispulate; blade elliptic, 3.5-5.5 cm long × 2.5- 3.5 cm wide, softly leathery, semiglossy medium to dark green adaxially, paler green and minutely punctate abaxially, margins smooth, base cuneate, occasionally plants with all blade bases strongly oblique, the shorter side cuneate, the longer cordulate, tip acute, apiculate for 0.5 mm; midrib very slightly rounded-raised abaxially, adaxially very slightly impressed, ca 0.5 mm wide, with ca 4 primary lateral veins on each side, these diverging at 30°-40° from the midrib, abaxially flush to slightly raised, adaxially flush or very slightly impressed; interprimary veins scattered and appearing as disjointed darker streaks and resembling pellucid veinlike glands; all other venation invisible, all veins running into a very weakly defined and slightly thickened intermarginal vein. Inflorescences up to 7 together in a synflorescence, opening sequentially, peduncle erect at anthesis, later declinate; peduncle to ca 8 cm long × ca 1 mm diam., inserted obliquely (to the ventral side) on the spathe; pale green, the basal-most part occasionally flushed pale red. Spathe ca 1.5 cm long, ca 5 mm wide across the truncate-gibbous base, the limb sloping dorsally towards the tip, ventrally straight (spathe thus forming a scalene triangle in lateral view), not constricted, exterior with several longitudinal rounded costae, ventrally semiglossy yellowish green, dorsally medium green, interior shiny pale green, apex with a terminal short brown mucro to 1.5 mm long, spathe inflating at anthesis and opening by a broad slit, later closing and enclosing the spadix. Spadix up to 1 cm long × 2.5 mm diam., fertile to the tip , stipitate, stipe ca 1 mm but expanding into the smooth, umbonate spathe/peduncle junction, very pale green; pistillate flower zone ca 1.5 mm long; pistils few, somewhat scattered, especially the lower ones and usually only in 2-3 spirals, globoselageniform, ca 1 mm tall × 0.7-0.8 mm diam. greenish white, stigma sessile,, 0.2-0.3 mm diam., producing a large droplet at anthesis; pistillate flowers each associated with one staminode, this almost spherical with a very slender stipe, ca 0.3 mm diam., very pale yellow; suprapistillar interstice absent; staminate flower zone ca 8.5 mm long, apex acute; staminate flowers somewhat densely arranged, each consisting of two stamens, thecae globose, ca 0.3 mm long × ca 0.4 mm wide, white to very pale green, anther thecae opening by a broad terminal pore; pollen powdery. Fruiting spathe declinate by flexing of the basal portion of the peduncle, pale yellow-green. Fruits and seeds not observed.