Family:
Araceae Juss.
Genus:
Culcasia P.Beauv.

Culcasia falcifolia Engl.

This species is accepted, and its native range is Gabon to Ethiopia and Zambia.

[CATE]

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

General Description
Lianescent or ground-creeping herb with short clasping roots at and below the nodes; internodes 1.6–11.5 cm. long, 0.3–0.5 cm. in diameter (when dried); epidermis (when dried) densely or sparsely minutely tuberculate. LEAVES: Petiole 6-15 cm. long, sheath much more than half total petiole length; blade obliquely ovate to lanceolate, elliptic or oblong, sometimes falcate, 8.2-26 cm. long, 3.5-10.5 cm. broad, 1.9-3.3 times longer than broad, acuminate, base rounded to cuneate, rarely emarginate; pellucid glands variable, usually sparse to almost lacking, sometimes frequent, linear, up to 0.3-0.4 mm. long; primary lateral veins long-arcuate, running into the margin, usually not forming inframarginal veins. INFLORESCENCES (1-)2-3(-4), inserted on a floral sympodium with internodes sometimes up to 1.3 cm. long, all except the first subtended by lanceolate bracts; peduncle 4.5-14 cm. long. Spathe thickly coriaceous, usually greenish white, white or yellowish, more rarely reported as green, yellowish green or orange, obovoid and not constricted centrally when closed, 2.5-5 cm. long, 0.5-1.4 cm. in diameter when closed, boat-shaped and gaping up to 2.5 cm. wide at anthesis. Spadix subequal to spathe; staminate part 2.8-3.2 cm. long, 0.6-0.8 cm. in diameter, subcylindric, narrowing to subacute apex; pistillate part 0.6-1 cm. long, 0.4-0.5 cm. in diameter, sessile to subsessile, rarely shortly stipitate. Pistils densely congested, subprismatic; stigma sessile, circular, excentric; ovary 1-locular; placentation basal. INFRUCTESCENCE: Berries obovoid to subglobose, 1(-2)-seeded, up to 1.7 cm. long, 1.1 cm. in diameter, glossy, green when young, becoming orange from base, then scarlet or orange-red to dark orange-red at maturity; mature infructescences ± cylindric with usually more than 4 berries. Seed ellipsoid, up to 1.2 cm. long, 0.6 cm. in diameter, with dark oval patch on one side.
Habitat
Rain-forest, riverine and swamp forest
Distribution
U1–4; K3, 5, 7; T1, 3, 4, 6, 7; Sudan, Ethiopia, Zaire, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe
Diagnostic
The spathe appears to be thicker and usually larger than in C. orientalis, and its colour at anthesis also seems to be different; more field observations are needed.

[FTEA]

Araceae, S.J. Mayo. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1985

Morphology General Habit
Lianescent or ground-creeping herb with short clasping roots at and below the nodes; internodes 1.6–11.5 cm. long, 0.3–0.5 cm. in diameter (when dried); epidermis (when dried) densely or sparsely minutely tuberculate.
Morphology Leaves
Petiole 6–15 cm. long, sheath much more than half total petiole length; blade obliquely ovate to lanceolate, elliptic or oblong, sometimes falcate, 8.2–26 cm. long, 3.5–10.5 cm. broad, 1.9–3.3 times longer than broad, acuminate, base rounded to cuneate, rarely emarginate; pellucid glands variable, usually sparse to almost lacking, sometimes frequent, linear, up to 0.3–0.4 mm. long; primary lateral veins long-arcuate, running into the margin, usually not forming inframarginal veins.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences (1–)2–3(–4), inserted on a floral sympodium with internodes sometimes up to 1.3 cm. long, all except the first subtended by lanceolate bracts; peduncle 4.5–14 cm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Spathe
Spathe thickly coriaceous, usually greenish white, white or yellowish, more rarely reported as green, yellowish green or orange, obovoid and not constricted centrally when closed, 2.5–5 cm. long, 0.5–1.4 cm. in diameter when closed, boat-shaped and gaping up to 2.5 cm. wide at anthesis.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spadix
Spadix subequal to spathe; staminate part 2.8–3.2 cm. long, 0.6–0.8 cm. in diameter, subcylindric, narrowing to subacute apex; pistillate part 0.6–1 cm. long, 0.4–0.5 cm. in diameter, sessile to subsessile, rarely shortly stipitate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
Pistils densely congested, subprismatic; stigma sessile, circular, excentric; ovary 1-locular; placentation basal.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Berries obovoid to subglobose, 1(–2)-seeded, up to 1.7 cm. long, 1.1 cm. in diameter, glossy, green when young, becoming orange from base, then scarlet or orange-red to dark orange-red at maturity; mature infructescences ± cylindric with usually more than 4 berries.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seed ellipsoid, up to 1.2 cm. long, 0.6 cm. in diameter, with dark oval patch on one side.
Figures
Fig. 4/1–9.
Habitat
Rain-forest, riverine and swamp forest; 500–2100 m.
Distribution
K3 K5 K7 T1 T3 T4 T6 T7 U1 U2 U3 U4

Native to:

Burundi, Central African Repu, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

Culcasia falcifolia Engl. appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
Dec 1, 1983 Meyer, F.G. [8916], Ethiopia K000499428 Yes
Dawkins, H.C. [350], Uganda 18456.000 No
Dawkins, H.C. [870], Uganda 18457.000 No
Dawkins, H.C. [361], Uganda 18458.000 No
Verdcourt, B. [1648], Kenya 22441.000 No
Harris, T. [11], Mozambique K000545016 No

First published in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 26: 418 (1899)

Accepted by

  • Darbyshire, I., Kordofani, M., Farag, I., Candiga, R. & Pickering, H. (eds.) (2015). The Plants of Sudan and South Sudan: 1-400. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Fischer, E., Rembold, K., Althof, A. & Obholzer, J. (2010). Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Kakamega forest, Western province, Kenya. Journal of East African Natural History 99: 129-226.
  • 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.
  • Haigh, A. & Boyce, P.C. (2012). Flora Zambesiaca 12(1): 1-54. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Sosef, M.S.M. & al. (2006). Check-list des plantes vasculaires du Gabon. Scripta Botanica Belgica 35: 1-438.
  • Strugnell, A.M. (2006). A checklist of the Spermatophytes of Mt. Mulanje, Malawi. Scripta Botanica Belgica 34: 1-199.

Literature

CATE Araceae

  • Mayo, S.J. 1985. Araceae. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 71 pp.

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Boulvert, Y. (1977). Catalogue de la Flore de Centrafrique 1: 1-114. ORSTOM, Bangui.
  • Sosef, M.S.M. & al. (2006). Check-list des plantes vasculaires du Gabon. Scripta Botanica Belgica 35: 1-438.

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • Engl. in A. Engler & O. Drude, Die Vegetation Der Erde, IX, Pflanzenwelt Afrikas 2: 239 (1908).
  • Engl. in A. Engler, Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie 26: 418 (1899).
  • Engl. in A. Engler, Das Pflanzenreich 21 (IV. 23B): 301 (1905)
  • N.E. Br. in Flora of Tropical Africa 8: 175 (1901).
  • Peter in Nachr. Ges. Wiss. Göttingen, Math.-Phys. Kl. 1929(3): 199 (1930).

  • 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

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    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 2022. 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 2022. 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