Araceae

Zomicarpa Schott

First published in Syn. Aroid.: 33 (1856)
This genus is accepted
The native range of this genus is Brazil.

Descriptions

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

Habitat
Tropical humid forest, upland gallery forest, deciduous forest; geophytes on forest floor.
Diagnostic
Small, seasonally dormant tuberous geophytes; leaf blade trisect to pedatisect, submarginal collectiven vein present at least partially, fine venation reticulate; peduncle slender, longer than petiole; spadix female zone adnate to spathe, contiguous with male zone, sterile terminal appendix clavate to subcylindric; flowers unisexual, perigone absent. Differs from Filarum, Zomicarpella and Ulearum in the combination of tuberous stems with trisect to pedatisect leaf blades and ovary 6- to 11 -ovulate.
General Description
Laticifers anastomosing. HABIT : small, seasonally dormant herbs, tuber subglobose to depressed-globose. LEAVES : few. PETIOLE : sheath short. BLADE : entire ovate-cordate when juvenile, adult blade trisect to pedatisect, lobes oblong-elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, outer ones smaller; primary lateral veins of lobes pinnate, joined into submarginal collective vein at least in upper half of lobe, 1-2 marginal veins also present, higher order venation reticulate. INFLORESCENCE : 3-5 in each floral sympodium, appearing before or with leaves. PEDUNCLE : longer than petiole, slender. SPATHE : somewhat constricted, entirely persistent, tube only laxly convolute, slightly gaping at anthesis, obliquely held, blade longer than tube, expanded at anthesis, distinctly or slightly bent forward at constriction, ± erect, sometimes fornicate, ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, acuminate. SPADIX : shorter than spathe, female zone few- and laxly flowered, adnate to spathe, contiguous with male zone, male zone cylindric, longer than female, laxly to densely flowered, appendix erect or bent forward near base, clavate to subcylindric, smooth or ± covered with sterile flowers ( Z. steigeriana). FLOWERS : unisexual, perigone absent. MALE FLOWER : 1-2-androus, free, filaments distinct or very short, connective distinctively coloured, thecae ellipsoid, opposite, dehiscing by apical pore. POLLEN : inaperturate, spherical to subspheroidal, medium-sized (mean 32 µm., range 32-33 µm.), exine spinose. STERILE FLOWERS : sparse when present, conic and acuminate towards base of appendix, otherwise wart-like. FEMALE FLOWER : gynoecium cylindric or ovoid to subglobose, ovary 1-locular, ovules 6-11, anatropous, funicle distinct, placenta basal, style shortly attenuate, stigma broad, discoid-hemispheric. BERRY : depressed-globose, whitish below, darker at apex, few-several-seeded. SEED : ovoid to ellipsoid, testa smooth, thin, transparent, micropyle shortly rostrate, funicle strophiolate, swollen, white, embryo axile, elongate, endosperm copious.
Distribution
Brazil.
[CATE]

Gonçalves, E.G. Kew Bull (2012) 67: 443. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12225-012-9336-x

Type
Type: Z. pythonium (Mart.) Schott (Arum pythonium Mart.).
Morphology General Habit
Geophytes, evergreen to seasonally dormant, stem cormous, usually cylindrical, contractile roots present
Morphology Leaves
Leaves 2 – 3 per plant; petioles sheathed up to the middle, collenchyma pattern colocasioid; leaf blade sagittate-cordate to pedatissect, higher order venation reticulate, often variegated in variable patterns
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence 2 – 5 per article, appearing together with the leaves, rarely before; peduncles slender, erect at anthesis, shorter or longer than the petioles; spathe not constricted to strongly constricted at the middle, basal portion (tube) incompletely to completely convolute, apical portion expanded, held erect to strongly fornicate; spadix shorter than the spathe, male portion with a sterile apical appendix, male flowers laxly to densely arranged, female portion few-flowered
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers diclinous; female flowers cylindrical to globose, style short, stigma discoid, ovary unilocular, ovules numerous and attached to the base of locule, anatropous; male flowers consisting of free stamens, filament present to almost absent, thecae ellipsoid, dehiscing by an apical pore or slit, pollen grains spinose, holoapertured
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit a subglobose utricle, comprising only a thin membrane when ripe; seeds numerous, ovoid, testa smooth, swollen funicle, endosperm copious
Note
2n = 20.
[KBu]

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 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Bulletin

    • Kew Bulletin
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0