| Original Botanical Description or Link to | Monoecious, acaulescent, rhizomatous, perennial herb, 50–90 cm tall including inflorescence. Rhizome brown, stout, woody, 10–30 cm long, nodes 5–15 mm, leaf scars prominent, axillary buds growing after leaf fall. Stipules 2 at each node, persistent, asymmetrical,
keeled, widely ovate to triangular, rarely obovate, 1.3–4.2 × 2.7–3.4 cm, brownish red,
base truncate, apex acute to cuspidate with 5–10 mm long arista, margins entire, abaxially
sparsely hairy with brown tomentum, adaxially glabrous. Leaves: petiole 7–28 cm long,
angular, slightly grooved, pale green with large reddish blotches, densely tomentose;
lamina thick, fleshy, 13–28 × 21–35 cm, green above and pale green to pale pink beneath,
suborbicular, base asymmetrically cordate, lower lobe overlapping, apex acute, margin
distantly denticulate, upper surface tomentose, lower surface densely tomentose when
young, sparsely tomentose when mature, leaves, 7- to 9-veined from base. Inflorescence
axillary, bisexual, dichotomously branched at base, 5–6 times branched, protandrous with
male flower basal and female flower distal; peduncle 40–85 cm long, angled, slightly
grooved, bulging towards the base, reddish to pale green with reddish blotches, with dense
white tomentum; primary bracts 2, caducous, pale green, laciniate, c.3.5 cm long, deeply
lobed; lobes 3–6, lanceolate to narrowly ovate with short triangular sublobes, apex
acuminate, base truncate, margins sparsely strigose; secondary bracts 3–5, caducous,
broadly ovate to oblong or elliptic, rarely with narrow lobes, 7–10 × 3–6 mm, apex
obtuse to acuminate, margins entire, glabrous. Male flowers: pedicel 1–1.7 cm long, pink
with reddish blotches, greenish at the base, sparsely tomentose; tepals 2, orbicular,
1–1.3 × 1.1–1.4 cm, white to pale pink, base and apex rounded, margins entire, abaxial
and adaxial surfaces glabrous; androecium symmetrical, stamens 37–49, monadelphous;
anthers broadly obovate, 3 mm long, apex rounded, dehiscing through longitudinal slits;
filaments c.2 mm long. Female flowers: nodding; bracteoles 2 or 3, caducous when mature,
tepal-like, ovate to elliptic, rarely obovate, 11–12 × 6–10 mm, white to pale pink, base
truncate, apex obtuse or with 3 small triangular lobes, margins entire; pedicel 9–12 mm
long, white to pink with reddish blotches, glabrous; tepals 2, persistent, reniform,
0.9–1 × 1–1.2 cm, white to pale pink, base rounded, apex, rounded, glabrous on both
surfaces; ovary white to pale pink, wings 3, equal, 11–32 × 3.5–5 mm, glabrous; locules 3,
placentae undivided, axile; styles 3, connate at base, bifid from about half of their height,
twisted once slightly at apex, stigmatic papillae a wavy band connecting the two stylar lobes. Fruit a capsule, pendent on slender pedicel, longer than broad, wings 3, equal,
c.1.5 × 0.7 cm, pale green to pale pink, dehiscent on both sides of the wings; seeds
numerous, oblong in outline, c.0.5 × 0.25 mm. |
