Skip to main content
This species is accepted, and its native range is SW. India, Nepal to China (S. Yunnan) and Myanmar.
Colocasia affinis

[CATE]

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

General Description
Herbs, perennial, terrestrial, with stolons and tubercles. Stolons trailing horizontally, pale green, thin, 3.7–40cm × ca. 4mm, branched; internodes cylindric, 2.7–9cm, with tubercles; tubercles triangular or ovate, ca. 2cm in diam. Leaves 3–7; petiole light green or greenish white, without transverse purple lines, cylindric, 20–45cm; leaf blade pale green abaxially, green or light green adaxially, with 4–6 pairs of large purple spots (lighter when growing in a very shady environment), peltate, ovate-cordate, (5–)16–21 × (4.7–)13–16cm, membranous; primary lateral veins in 3 or 4 pairs, marginal veins inconspicuous. Inflorescences 1–3; peduncle pale green, cylindric, much shorter than petioles, 6.4–15cm. Spathe constricted; tube convolute, green, almost cylindric, 1.3–2.7 × 0.6–1.8cm; limb usually reflexed at anthesis, yellow, greenish white, or yellowish, oblong-lanceolate, 4.2–7.8 × 1.6–3.3cm. Spadix sessile, shorter than spathe; female zone cylindric, short, 0.9–1.7cm × 3–8mm; female flowers green; ovary ovoid; ovules ca. 30; funicle long; placentae parietal; stigma sessile; sterile zone absent between female and male zones or cream-colored, 0.5–0.8 cm × 0.8–2mm; male zone yellowish, pale pink, or cream-colored, 1–1.7cm × 2.5–5mm; male flowers 6–8-androus; stamens connate into a synandrium, yellow; appendix reddish purple, greenish white, or light yellow, cylindric in proximal part but conic in distal part, 1.7–5.1cm × 1.5–6mm. Young berry green. 2n = 28.
Phenology
Fl. Jun–Aug, fr. Jul–Oct.
Habitat
Moist shaded places in forests and at forest margins, hillsides in limestone areas.
Vernacular
juan bao yu

Native to:

Assam, Bangladesh, China South-Central, East Himalaya, India, Myanmar, Nepal

Colocasia affinis Schott appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
Hooker, J.D. [s.n.], India K000499478
Hooker, J.D. [470], India K000499477

First published in Bonplandia (Hannover) 7: 28 (1859)

Accepted by

  • Ara, H. (2001). An Annotated Checklist of Aroids of Bangladesh Bangladesh Journal of Plant Taxonomy 8(2): 19-34.
  • Ara, H., & Abul Hassan, M. (2005). New records of three aroids from Bangladesh Bangladesh Journal of Plant Taxonomy 12: 25-32.
  • Gogoi, R. & Borah, S. (2013). Two new species and a new record for Colocasia (Araceae: Colocasieae) from Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 65: 27-37.
  • Govaerts, R. & Frodin, D.G. (2002). World Checklist and Bibliography of Araceae (and Acoraceae): 1-560. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.
  • Sasikala, K., Vajravelu, E. & Daniel, P. (2019). Fascicles of Flora of India 29: 1-357. Botanical Survey of India, New Delhi.
  • Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2010). Flora of China 23: 1-515. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.

Literature

CATE Araceae

  • Hen(g) Li, Guang Hua Zhu, Boyce, P.C., Murata, J., Hetterscheid, W.L.A., Bogner, J. & Jacobsen, N. 2010. Araceae in Flora of China @ efloras.org.

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Ara, H. (2001). An Annotated Checklist of Aroids of Bangladesh Bangladesh Journal of Plant Taxonomy 8(2): 19-34.
  • Sasikala, K., Vajravelu, E. & Daniel, P. (2019). Fascicles of Flora of India 29: 1-357. Botanical Survey of India, New Delhi.
  • Wu, Z. & Raven, P.H. (eds.) (2010). Flora of China 23: 1-515. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.

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
Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Kew Science Photographs
Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/