Schismatoglottis unifolia A.Hay & P.C.Boyce

CATE Araceae, 17 Dec 2011. araceae.e-monocot.org

Habitat

Terrestrial in deep leaf litter over sandy loam in secondary gallery forest on a steep slope,

General Description

Colony-forming herb to 25 cm tall. Stem short and slender, hapaxanthic, hypogeal, long-stoloniferous, c. 8 mm diam.; leaf solitary, subtended by lanceolate cataphylls to 8 cm long; petiole 13–30 cm long, red-brown to mid-green, asperous, minutely and densely papillate especially distally, sheathing in the lower c. 1⁄10; wings of sheath persistent, fully attached, tapering; blade ovato- to cordato-sagittate, 23–29 cm long × 15–16 cm wide, adaxially dull mid-green variegated with two broad irregularly blotched grey-green bands one on each side between the midrib and margin, the apex acute and acuminate for 1–2 cm, the base cordate with broadly rounded posterior lobes 4–5 cm long; midrib more or less flush with the lamina (dry), abaxially asperous near the base, with 6–7 primary lateral veins on each side, alternating with very fine interprimary veins and diverging at c. 50–70°; secondary venation very fine, arising mostly from the midrib, some also from the bases of the primary lateral veins; tertiary venation forming a faint tessellate reticulum in the dry state more clearly visible on the adaxial side. Inflorescence solitary; peduncle 4–8 cm long, subtended by lanceolate cataphylls to c. 5 cm long. Spathe slender, 5.5–9 cm long, pink throughout, darker below; lower spathe ovoid, 2–3 cm long, differentiated from the limb by a weak constriction; limb lanceolate, 3.5–6 cm long, gaping, then abscising rather irregularly and more or less disintegrating. Spadix sessile, subcylindric, 4.5–6.5 cm long; female zone obliquely inserted, 0.9–1.4 cm long, slightly conoid, apically c. 4 mm diam.; pistils squat, crowded, pale pink; ovary very shortly cylindric, concealed from above by the large thick discoid papillate sessile contiguous stigmas c. 1 mm diam.; interpistillar staminodes pale pink, frequent, scattered among the pistils and in a row around the base of the female zone, shortly stipitate, truncate-clavate, about the height of the pistils; interstice absent; male zone contiguous and isodiametric with top of female zone, cylindric, held within the lower spathe chamber, 0.8–1.2 cm long; stamens dark pink, crowded, truncate, irregularly rectangular to rhomboid, c. 1 mm across, with the connective thick and not elevated above the thecae; rims of thecae broad and deeply cleft on the outer edge; pollen sacs discharging through a common pore in each theca; appendix mid-pink, c. 3–4 cm long (more than half the length of the spadix), subcylindric, basally isodiametric with top of male zone, tapering to a fine point; staminodes of appendix lat-topped to slightly pressed, irregularly polygonal with very rounded angles, c. 1.1 mm diam. Fruiting spathe broadly urceolate, c. 3 cm long; berries greenish white.

Distribution

Malesia: endemic to Borneo (Sabah); known only from the type.