| Original Botanical Description or Link to | Monoecious, acaulescent, rhizomatous, perennial herb; 30–70 cm tall (including inflorescence), acaulescent. Rhizomes brown, stout, fleshy, 7–80 cm, 13–30 mm thick, nodes
5–20 mm apart, brown tomentose on young parts, lenticellate, leaf scars prominent. Stipules
2 at each node, persistent, asymmetrical, keeled, oblong to triangular, 0.8–4 × 0.6–2.3 cm,
pink to reddish brown, base truncate, apex acuminate to retuse with 6–12 mm long arista,
margins entire, abaxially sparsely hairy with brown tomentum, adaxially glabrous. Leaves:
petiole terete, slightly grooved, 16–50 cm long, pale green to reddish brown with minute
white spots and streaks, dense brown tomentum when young, glabrescent at maturity; lamina
fleshy, green above and pale green beneath, suborbicular, 18–20 × 21–30 cm, base asymmetrically cordate, lower lobe slightly overlapping, apex acute, margins undulate to
subentire, upper surface sparsely tomentose, glabrous when mature, lower surface densely
tomentose when young, sparser when mature, 8- to 11-veined, palmate to pinnate.
Inflorescence axillary, bisexual, dichotomously branched at base, 5–6 times branched,
protandrous with male flower basal and female flower distal; peduncle c.27–70 cm long,
terete, with dense brown tomentum, reddish to pale green; primary bracts caducous, ovate,
apex obtuse to acute, base truncate, margins entire, sparsely tomentose; secondary bracts
persistent 2.5–3 × 0.4–0.5 mm, lanceolate, pink to reddish brown, base truncate, apex acute
to acuminate, margins entire, abaxially sparsely tomentose. Male flowers: pedicel c.1 cm
long, pink, sparsely tomentose; tepals 2, orbicular, 0.9–1 × 1–1.3 cm, pink, base rounded,
apex rounded to obtuse, margins entire, abaxial and adaxial surfaces glabrous; androecium
symmetrical, stamens monadelphous, 25–30; anthers obovate, 2–3 mm long, connective not
produced beyond the thecae, apex rounded, dehiscence through longitudinal slits; filaments
c.7–1.5 mm long. Female flowers suberect; bracteoles 2, persistent, c.2 × 0.5 mm, shorter
than ovary, filiform, reddish pink, base truncate, apex acute, margins entire, sparsely
tomentose as in pedicels; pedicel c.1–1.2 cm long, pink, sparsely tomentose; tepals 2,
reniform, 0.8–1 × 0.9–1.2 cm, pink, base rounded, apex acute to rounded, margins entire,
glabrous on both surfaces; ovary pink when young, wings 3, equal, glabrous; locules 3,
placenta undivided, ovules arranged on an axile placenta; styles 3, connate at base, bifid from
about half their length, stigmatic papillae forming a band connecting the two lobes. Fruit a
capsule, more or less erect, oblong, pink, wings 3, equal, c.1–1.5 × 0.7 cm, both ends
rounded, dehiscent on both sides of the wings; seeds numerous, ellipsoid, 0.36 × 0.18 mm. |
