Araceae

Lysichiton Schott

First published in Oesterr. Bot. Wochenbl. 7: 62 (1857)
This genus is accepted
The native range of this genus is Russian Far East to Japan, Alaska to W. U.S.A.

Descriptions

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

Habitat
Temperate wetlands; helophytes, in swamps and wet woodlands.
General Description
HABIT : large herb with thick, hypogeal rhizome. LEAVES : numerous. PETIOLE : thick, flattened to deeply sulcate, sheath long. BLADE : becoming large, ovate-elliptic to ovate-oblong; primary lateral veins pinnate, running into inconspicuous marginal vein, higher order venation ± regularly transverse-reticulate between primaries. INFLORESCENCE : solitary, appearing just before or with the leaves in early spring. PEDUNCLE : absent, spadix supported on elongated stipe. SPATHE : marcescent, inserted at the point of attachment of spadix stipe to rhizome, cucullate to boat-shaped, lower part narrowly convolute and clasping spadix stipe, blade expanded, ovate, white or yellow. SPADIX : subcylindric, subacute at apex, stipe extremely elongated. FLOWERS : bisexual, perigoniate; tepals 4, cucullate, imbricate. STAMENS : 4, filaments oblong, flattened, connective slender, thecae ellipsoid, dehiscing by longitudinal slit. POLLEN : monosulcate, ellipsoid, medium-sized (mean 40 µm., range 38-43 µm.), exine reticulate. GYNOECIUM : elongate-ovoid, attenuate apically, ovary immersed in spadix axis, 2-locular or incompletely 2-locular, ovules 1-2 per locule, orthotropous, broad, conoid, funicle very short and thick, placenta axile, thick, style attenuate, longer than tepals, stigma discoid-hemispheric. BERRY : ellipsoid, mostly 2-seeded, green, decaying or stylar portion breaking off with perigone at maturity to expose seeds embedded in spadix axis. SEED : ± ellipsoid, somewhat compressed, testa smooth, embryo large, ellipsoid, endosperm nearly absent, present only as a single cell layer.
Distribution
Temp. E. Asia, Russian Far East, Alaska to W. U.S.A.
Diagnostic
Temperate helophytes with thick, hypogeal rhizome; leaf blade entire, ovate to oblong, fine venation reticulate; spathe blade white or yellow; spadix stipe very long, enclosed by lower part of spathe for most of its length down to attachment with rhizome; flowers bisexual, perigoniate, tepals free; ovary 2-locular, ovules 2 per locule, orthotropous, placenta axile.
[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

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.

  • 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 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