Schismatoglottis modesta Schott

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

General Description

Small herb to c. 20 cm tall. Stem ?epigeal (see notes), c. 2 mm thick with internodes to 8 mm. Leaves 3–4 together; petiole c. 11 cm long, sheathing in the lower ⅓; wings of sheath fully attached, tapering; blade ovato-sagittate, c. 9 cm long × 4 cm wide, the base cordate with rounded posterior lobes to 1 cm long, the apex acute and acuminate for c. 1 cm finally with an up to 6 mm long filamentous mucro; midrib slightly prominent adaxially, with 5–6 primary lateral veins on each side, irregularly alternating with lesser interprimaries and diverging at c. 80°; secondary venation mostly arising from the midrib, some from near the bases of the primary veins; tertiary venation obscure. Inflorescence solitary; peduncle about half the length of to subequalling the petiole. Spathe incompletely known; lower spathe 1.5–2 cm long, narrowly ovoid, differentiated from the limb by a constriction; limb not known. Spadix c. 3 cm long, narrowly hourglass-shaped; female zone c. 1.5 cm long, adnate to the spathe in the lower c. ¼, c. 3 mm diam. in the middle, distally tapering to 1.5 mm diam.; pistils somewhat lax proximally, the distal ones very lax, ovoid, somewhat upward-facing, c. 0.6 mm diam.; stigma elevated on a very short style, button-like, c. 0.2 mm diam.; interpistillar staminodes very few, scattered among the pistils, clavate, stalked, slightly taller than the pistils; interstice attenuate, c. 2 mm diam., naked except for a few scattered abortive pistils, the top of the interstice occupied by 1–2 irregular whorls of staminodes at the base of the male zone, these ?scale-like and diagonally upward-facing, sitting just outside the lower spathe chamber; male zone narrowly obconoid, 7 mm long × 3.5 mm wide at the top; stamens crowded, truncate more or less dumbbell-shaped, c. 0.6 mm across, with the connective slightly elevated into a peak on one side between the thecae; appendix conoid, 6 mm long, the base slightly and abruptly wider than the top of the male zone, c. 5 mm diam.; staminodes of the appendix columnar, rounded-topped, the apical ones extended somewhat to make the tip sharply acute. Fruit unknown.

Habitat

Unknown.

Distribution

Malesia: endemic to Borneo (southern Kalimantan); known with certainly only from the type, which is of imprecise provenance.