AMORPHOPHALLUS CANDIDISSIMUS
ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION:
Amorphophallus candidissimus X. Gong et H. Li, sp. nov.
Diagnosis: Amorphophalli muelleri Blume (Amorphophalli erubescenti Hett.) similis sed tubere dense verrucoso, folii lamina sine bulbilis, spatha candida, base intra laevigata, late infundibulari, 9 cm longa, spadice breviore, appendice alba, ovate-conica, 5 cm longa et 2.5 cm diametro differt.
Type: China. Yunnan: Cultivated at Kunming Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences [introduced from Cuc Phuong National Park，NhoQuan district, NinhBinh Province Vietnam, 15 Dec. 2004. Inflorescence: 22 Jun. 2011; Leaf: 9 Oct. 2011], Xun Gong 37521 (KUN, spiritcoll., holotype!)
SYNONYMS:
HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS: N/A
HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS: N/A
ACCEPTED INFRASPECIFICS: N/A
OTHER: N/A
DISTRIBUTION: VIETNAM: Only known from the type locality, Cuc Phuong National Park，Nho Quan district, Ninh Binh province
CLIMATE: N/A
ECOLOGY: Found at 550-600 m above the sea level, around 20°21'29'' N, 105°35'22'' E, it grows in rock crevices, and mossy tree trunk.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Tuber depressed globose, slightly brown outside, white inside, surface densely verrucose, 3-5 cm high, 7-9 cm in diam. at the top, no offset development. Leaf solitary; petiole terete, 27 cm long, 1 cm in diam., smooth, uniformly pale brown with a few pale whitish oblong, with sparse elliptic spots; lamina lacking bulbils : upper side green, and lower side pale green with reddish veins, c. 40 cm in diam. divided into three main branches; main branches equally long; rachises once pseudodichotomously branched，naked; leaflets elliptic, elliptic-oblanceolate, 4-14 cm long, 2.5-5.5 cm wide, apex acuminate, base asymmetric and decurrent on one side, margin entire.
INFLORESCENCE:
Inflorescence long peduncled; peduncle 21 cm long, 11 mm in diam, smooth, slight brown, with scattered elliptical, whitish spots; spots c. 1-21 x 1-9 mm; spathe erect, wide infundibuliforum upperward, base convolute, without constriction in between the basal and upper portions, inner and outer sides white, smooth, no spots outside, base within without small warts, 9 cm long, 8.5 cm wide (when expanded), apex cuspidate with blunt tip, margin entire. Spadix sessile, leviter, longer than spathe, 10 cm long; female zone light pink, cylindric, c. 10 mm long, c. 15 mm in diam., flowers congested; male zone white, obconic c. 2.4 cm long, lower part c. 1.2 cm in diam, upper part c. 2.1 cm in diam., flowers congested; naked zone between female and male zones white, smooth, 3-4 mm long; appendix ovate-conoid, white, base smooth, without warts, c. 5 cm long, c. 2.5 cm in diam., smooth. Female flowers white, ovary subglobose, c. 2.5 mm high, c. 2.5 mm in diam., bilocular; stigma sessile, black, shallowly 3-lobed. Male flowers consisting of 2-3 thecae; each c. 1.5 mm long; filaments c. 1 mm long, fused entirely, whitish; thecae c. 0.5 mm long, 1.0-1.5 mm in diam., whitish, pores apical. Pollen psilate.
VARIEGATED FORMS: N/A
ETYMOLOGY: The species epithet derives from the Latin candidissimus, the superlative form of candidus, meaning “white,” “bright,” or “pure.” The epithet translates to “the whitest” or “very white,” and refers to the strikingly pale coloration of the inflorescence, spathe and spadix.
NOTES:
Amorphophallus candidissimus somewhat is related to Amorphophallus muelleri Blume from Tropical Asia (from Andamans eastward through Myanmar into northern Thailand south-eastward on Sumatra, Java, and Timor), but differs in having tuber with numerous succulent warts, the leaf lamina lacking bulbils, the spathe infundibulate, white on both sides without any spots, base within without warts, wide infundibulate upper ward, without constriction in between, 9 cm long, 8.5 cm wide, the naked zone between female and male zones at spadix present, white, smooth, 3-4 mm long; the appendix ovate-conical, white, 5 cm long, 2.5 cm in diam.
CULTIVARS: N/A
HYBRIDS: N/A
