ALOCASIA LECOMTEI
SYNONYMS: N/A
DISTRIBUTION: Vietnam — originally collected in southern Tonkin (Tonkin méridional), the southern part of the former French protectorate of Tonkin in northern Vietnam. Ninh Bình — inferred from Bon’s collecting sequence; type Bon 493 (6 May 1881) is labelled only “Tonkin méridional,” but Bon 466, collected four days earlier on 2 May 1881, is explicitly from Yên Mô, Ninh Bình.
CLIMATE: Tropical humid climate
Humidity is moderate throughout the year, ranging from 60% to 70%
Temperature is varies between the seasons - within the range of 48°F/9°C to 88°F/31°C during the day. Minimum temperatures never dip below 45°F/7°C
Rainy and humid season (October to May) and a dry season between June and October. The average annual rainfall is 1,200 mm
ECOLOGY: N/A
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Small herb. Peltate leaves, cordate-ovate, with non-wavy margins, tapering from the lower third, 15 cm long in all, 10 cm broad near the base; Terminal lobe 12 cm. long, semi-orbicular basils, 5 cm wide. about 2.5 long, fused for 13 mm., with very obtuse sinuses, short; costal veins 3 on each side, confluent in marginal arcs 5-7 mm apart. from the edge ; basilar 2 on both sides, standing out from ribs less than 5 mm. of the petiole, very arched; petiole 30 cm long, broadly vagina at the base and to above the middle.
INFLORESCENCE: Inflorescence an oblong-ovoid tube spathe, 15 mm long, with an oblong blade, 45 mm long. of 15, shortly apiculate; peduncle of 15 cm.; ~5 cm. spadix; feminine part 7-8 mm long., 6mm thick; sterile male part 1 cm or more, 3-3.5 mm thick. ; p. fertile 25 mm long; appendage conoid-obtuse, 1 cm long, with aborted, irregular synanders. Stamens: young orbicular synanders, vaguely lobulated. Fertile ovary?
VARIEGATED FORMS: N/A
ETYMOLOGY: Named after French botanist Paul Henri Lecomte, who led expeditions in French Indo-China
NOTES: Though this species is accepted by Kew, there are no specimens in circulation or collections. in 2007, Van Du Nguyen, the botanist who described Alocasia vietnamensis, labeled the only herbarium specimen available for this species as Alocasia cucullata.
CULTIVARS: N/A
HYBRIDS: N/A
