Araceae

Dracunculus Mill.

First published in Gard. Dict. Abr. ed. 4.: s.p. (1754)
This genus is accepted
The native range of this genus is Macaronesia to SW. Türkiye.

Descriptions

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

Diagnostic
Seasonally dormant tuberous geophytes; petiole sheaths very long; leaf blade with reticulate fine venation; spadix with a long, smooth appendix, staminodes above male zone only weakly developed; flowers unisexual, perigone absent; gynoecium with apical and basal placentas. Differs from Helicodiceros in male zone of spadix contiguous with female zone, smooth spadix appendix and pedatifid leaf blades that are not spirally twisted upwards.
General Description
HABIT : large seasonally dormant herbs, tuber subglobose, stoloniferous as well in D. canariensis. LEAVES : few. PETIOLE : sheath very long, spotted or not, tightly convolute around peduncle forming substantial erect pseudostem. BLADE : deeply pedatifid; primary lateral veins of each lobe pinnate, forming submarginal collective vein, higher order venation reticulate. INFLORESCENCE : solitary, appearing with leaves. PEDUNCLE : shorter than petiole. SPATHE : marcescent, constricted, tube with convolute margins, erect, thick-walled, oblong-ellipsoid, shorter than blade, blade ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, expanded, deep purple or white, eventually bent backwards. SPADIX : subequal to spathe, female zone ± sessile, cylindric to conic, contiguous with male zone, male zone ellipsoid-cylindric, separated from appendix by a short zone of subulate staminodes, appendix long, long-stipitate, then elongate-conoid. FLOWERS : unisexual, perigone absent. MALE FLOWER : 3-4-androus, stamens quadrate, filaments distinct, connate at base, connective slender and prominulent, thecae shortly ellipsoid, dehiscing by apical pore. POLLEN : extruded in strands, inaperturate, ellipsoid to spheroidal, medium-sized (mean 45 µm.), exine verrucate. FEMALE FLOWER : ovary ellipsoid, 1-locular, ovules few, orthotropous, placentae apical and basal, style shortly conic, stigma hemispheric. BERRY : obovoid, few-seeded, red-orange. SEED : globose-ovoid, testa rugose, embryo axile, short, endosperm copious.
Habitat
Temperate and warm temperate scrub, woodland, macchie, olive groves, chestnut forest; geophytes, under trees and shrubs.
Distribution
Macaronesia, S. Europe to SW. Turkey.
[CATE]

Sources

  • CATE Araceae

    • Haigh, A., Clark, B., Reynolds, L., Mayo, S.J., Croat, T.B., Lay, L., Boyce, P.C., Mora, M., Bogner, J., Sellaro, M., Wong, S.Y., Kostelac, C., Grayum, M.H., Keating, R.C., Ruckert, G., Naylor, M.F. and Hay, A., CATE Araceae, 17 Dec 2011.
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2023. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2022 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2023. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2022 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0