Schismatoglottis warburgiana Engl.

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

Distribution

Malesia: endemic to the Philippines (Mindanao); known only from the type collection.

Habitat

In lowland hill forest with ebony,

General Description

Herb to 30 cm tall. Stem condensed, ?hypogeal, ?hapaxanthic, c. 0.5 cm diam.; petiole 8–17 cm long, slender, sheathing in the lower 2⁄5, with the wings of the sheath fully attached and tapering; blade oblong-lanceolate, tapering in the distal half, c. 10–20 cm long × 2–4 cm wide, the base obtuse to truncate, the tip acute and acuminate for c. 1 cm; midrib more or less flush with the lamina, with 8–10 primary lateral veins alternating with lesser interprimaries and diverging at c. 45°; secondary venation very finely striate, arising from the midrib and the bases of the lower primary veins; tertiary veins forming a minute faint tessellate reticulum. Inflorescences 2–3 together; peduncle exserted from the subtending leaf and cataphylls, 3–4 cm (fl.) to c. 10 cm long (fr.), erect. Spathe 2.5–3 cm long, constricted at c. ⅓ of the way from the base; lower spathe narrowly ovoid; limb narrowly turbinate and mucronate for c. 3 mm, ?caducous. Spadix sessile, c. 2.2 cm long, subcylindric; female zone c. 6 mm long × 1.5 mm wide (dry), adnate to the spathe in the lower ⅓, the free part subcylindric; ovaries subglobose, c. 0.5 mm diam.; stigma subsessile, punctate; interpistillar staminodes absent; interface between male and female zones occupied by c. 4 irregular whorls of robust sterile stamens c. 0.5 mm diam.; male zone very narrowly obconic, c. 6 mm long, 3 mm diam. at top; stamens dumbbell-shaped from above, more or less flattopped, or with the connective very slightly protruding between the thecae, c. 0.7 mm across; appendix bluntly conic, c. 6 mm long, 4 mm diam. at base; appendical staminodes paler than stamens, narrowly columnar, with the tops rounded and centrally somewhat impressed. Fruiting spathe urceolate, asymmetric, c. 1 cm long.