美丽南星 mei li nan xing

Arum speciosum Wallich, Tent. Fl. Napal. 29. 1824; A. eminens Schott; A. speciosum var. eminens (Schott) Engler.

Plants dioecious. Rhizome cylindric, 4-10 × 2-4 cm. Cataphylls 2 or 3, reddish brown, inner one to 15 cm. Leaf solitary; petiole pale green, not spotted, 15-50 cm, base forming pseudostem, 1-1.5 cm in diam.; leaf blade 3-foliolate; leaflets with petiolules 1-1.5 cm, pale green with narrow red margin, not spotted; central leaflet dull adaxially, ovate or oblong, 11-13 × 4-7 cm, base cuneate, apex acuminate or acute; lateral leaflets obliquely oblong to lanceolate, larger than central leaflet, 13-16 × 4.5-6.5 cm, base strongly oblique (one side cuneate, other deeply cordate), apex abruptly shortly acuminate. Peduncle whitish with tiny brown dots, much shorter than petioles, 2.5-10 cm. Spathe dark purple, with whitish longitudinal lines; tube cylindric, 4-10 × 1-3 cm, throat margins obliquely truncate, slightly outcurved; limb arching over spadix, oblong-lanceolate, 8-20 × 6-8 cm, margins narrowly recurved, apically gradually acuminate, drooping. Spadix unisexual; female zone subconic, ca. 1.7 × 1.2 cm; ovary obovoid; stigma sessile, punctate; male zone cylindric, ca. 2.5 cm × 5 mm; male flowers purple; synandria of 3-5 stamens; connected filaments distinct; thecae dehiscing by a single horseshoe-shaped slit. Appendix pink to dark purple, very narrowly conic, filiform distally, 20-80 cm, base to 8 mm in diam., narrowed into a stipe ca. 1 cm. Fruiting peduncle erect. Berries red, obovoid-obconic, angulate. Fl. Apr-Jun, fr. Oct.

Broad-leaved forests; 2400-2800 m. S Xizang [Bhutan, NE India, Nepal].