Schismatoglottis trivittata Hallier

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

Distribution

Malesia: Borneo (widespread but scattered).

General Description

Robust herb to 60 cm tall. Stem hypogeal, hapaxanthic, clump-forming or sometimes stoloniferous, c. 2 cm diam. Leaves to 4 together; petiole to c. 45 cm long, sheathing in the lower 2⁄5; wings of sheath fully attached, tapering, apically truncate; blade (broadly to narrowly) ovato-sagittate, 18–38 cm long × 8–20 cm wide, adaxially mid- to dark green, sometimes variegated with a greyish irregular central band or with a central band and a band on each side between the midrib and margin, paler abaxially, base cordate with spreading rather acutely rounded posterior lobes to 8 cm long (much reduced in Hirano s.n.), the tip acute and acuminate for 2–4 cm; midrib not prominent (dry), with 8–11 primary lateral veins on each side, irregularly alternating with lesser interprimaries and diverging at c. 60°, the lower ones usually branched, giving off 1 or 2 veins similar in size to the interprimaries; secondary venation arising from the midrib and from along the lower c. ½ of the proximal primary veins; tertiary venation obscure. Inflorescences (1–)2–5 together; peduncle c. 11–15 cm long. Spathe 12–18 cm long; lower spathe narrowly ovoid, 4–6 cm long, differentiated from the limb by a strong constriction; limb broadly ovate, 8–12 cm long, whitish, inflated over the appendix, caducous. Spadix sessile, 8.5–13 cm long, subcylindric (weakly hourglassshaped); female zone 4–6 cm long, adnate to the spathe for c. ½ its length, 0.8–1.2 cm wide in the middle, distally slightly conic, c. 4–7 cm diam. at the top; pistils crowded, bottle-shaped, c. 1 mm diam.; stigma sessile to slightly elevated on a short style, button-like, papillate, about as wide as the ovary; interpistillar staminodes scattered among the pistils, stalked, clavate with the head subspherical, slightly exceeding the pistils and occasionally much exceeding them; sterile interstice ill-defined, the upper part of female zone (sometimes partly naked and) covered with squashed pistils level with the spathe constriction and at the base of the male zone a concentration of staminodes resembling headless interpistillar staminodes, these intergrading distally with fertile stamens (occasionally a few whorls of sterile anthers); male zone subcylindric — slightly obconic, 2.4–3.4 cm long, 8–9 mm diam. at top; stamens densely crowded, truncate, c. 1 mm across, dumbbell-shaped with the connective narrow and very slightly elevated into a low point; appendix bluntly conoid, 1.7–2.6 cm long, the base slightly and abruptly wider than top of male zone, 0.9–1.1 cm diam. At base; staminodes of appendix columnar, irregularly polygonal with very rounded angles, flat-topped and usually slightly impressed to somewhat rounded, c. 0.5 mm diam. Infructescence unknown.

Habitat

Lowland rainforest floor and elevated soil patches in swampy forest, andlow montane forest;