AMORPHOPHALLUS COMMUTATUS
Photo by Alan Galloway
SYNONYMS:
HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS: Conophallus commutatus Schott in Bonplandia (Hannover) 7: 28 (1859)
HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS: N/A
ACCEPTED INFRASPECIFICS: Amorphophallus commutatus var. anmodensis Sivad. & Jaleel, Amorphophallus commutatus var. anshiensis Punekar, Lakshmin. & Sivad., Amorphophallus commutatus var. commutatus,Amorphophallus commutatus var. wayanadensis Sivad. & Jaleel
OTHER: Dragon stalk yam, wild yam
• Gujarati: જંગલી સુરણ jungali suran, મોગરીકંદ mogarikanda, શવળા shavala, વજ્રમુષ્ઠી vajramushti
• Kannada: ಕಾಡು ಸುವರ್ಣಗಡ್ಡೆ kaadu suvarnagadde
• Konkani: वज्रमूठ vajramuth
• Malayalam: കാട്ടുചേന kaattuchena
• Malvani: शेवरो shevaro
• Marathi: मोगरी कंद mogari kanda, शेवळा shevala, शेवरा shevara
• Tulu: ಕಾಟ್ಟುಕೇನೆ kaattukene
DISTRIBUTION: India | Kerala, Larnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Marahashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
CLIMATE: N/A
ECOLOGY: N/A
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Tubers sub-spherical, smooth, often produce short cylindric offsets, skin smooth. Petiole pale green to pale brownish with numerous elongate to irregular brown to dark brown spots; basal portion of rachises naked without decurrent bases of leaflets. Leaflets elliptic, elongate-elliptic or more or less oblong, upper leaflets with base long decurrent on rachis, apex acuminate.
INFLORESCENCE:
Inflorescence long or short peduncled; peduncle resembles petiole in color and pattern of mottling. Spathe erect, ovate-oblong or narrowly elongate-triangular, acute or acuminate, with or without a shallow constriction between tube and limb, purplish or brownish green or pale yellowish brown outside, inner side verrucose or with rounded bumps and with or without unicellular silvery hairs at base. Spadix usually longer than spathe, sessile or stipitate.
VARIEGATED FORMS: N/A
ETYMOLOGY: The species epithet is based on the latin commutatus which means changed/altered however the exact link to this species is unknown.
NOTES:
Key to the varieties of Amorphophallus commutatus
A. Amorphophallus commutatus var. anmodensis Sivad. et Jaleel, Rheedea 12(2):159 (2002).
Type: India, Goa, Anmod Ghat, 4.6.1997, Abdul Jaleel & Bobby Thomas RIA 67 (Holotype - K).
Tubers 8-10 cm in diam. and 5-7 cm thick, offsets 2-3, each c. 4-5 cm long. Petiole 50.0-52.5 cm long, blackish brown with white mottling. Leaflets ovate acuminate to oblong acuminate, 5.0-16.5 x 3.0-6.5 cm, dark green above and paler below. Peduncle 8-10 cm long, pale yellowish.
Spathe ovate-acute, 17-18 x 4-5 cm, basal tube slightly compressed obovoid, 2.5-3.0 cm long, limb expanded, erect, pale yellowish brown outside and pale brownish towards margin, inner side slightly purplish and pale yellowish towards base, verrucose with unicellular silvery hairs at base. Spadix sessile, 23-25 cm long; female zone c. 1.5 cm long; male zone cylindrical, c. 3 cm long; appendix 18-20 cm long. Female flowers c. 2.5 mm long, ovary sub-globose, c. 1.5 mm high, pale greenish, unilocular; style very short or absent; stigma yellowish orange, inconspicuously 3-lobed with a bigger median lobe, c. 1.5 mm in diam., narrower than the ovary, obliquely oriented towards axis and with a notch at abaxial side. Male flowers pale yellowish, dense, sessile, each c. 1.2 mm high and 1.2 mm broad, inconspicuously 2-lobed. Spadix-appendix cylindric, tapering towards tip, apex rounded, pale-yellowish brown to dark purplish brown. Infructescence not observed.
Phenology: Flowering: June; Fruiting: Not observed.
Specimens examined: Goa: Anmod Ghat, 4.6.1997, Abdul Jaleel RIA 68 (CALI); Ibid., 25.8.1998, Abdul Jaleel RIA 322 (CALI). Amorphophallus commutatus var. anmodensis resembles Amorphophallus commutatus var. wayanadensis in general appearance of spathe and spadix, but differs by having a short peduncle of c. 8-10 cm long, male zone cylindrical and less than twice the length of the female zone, and the spathe-tube slightly purplish and verrucose with unicellular hairs at base within.
Distribution: A narrow endemic known to occur only in Anmod Ghat, Goa in India.
B. Amorphophallus commutatus var. commutatus
Type: Same as that of the species. Bombay, (no date), Anonymous (Dalzell?), s. n. (K).
Tubers 6-14 cm in diam. and 4.5-5.5 cm thick, offsets 4-5; each offset c. 5-10 cm long. Petiole 40-65 cm long, greenish yellow with dark green patches. Leaflets ovate-acuminate, 8-13 x 3.5-5.0 cm, upper side dark green, lower side pale green.
Peduncle 20-40 cm long. Spathe erect, ovate acuminate, 10-23 x 3.5-5.6 cm, basal portion convolute forming a tube of 2.5-5.0 cm long, limb expanded, erect, greenish brown with white mottles and dark pinkish towards margin, inside tube dark purplish brown at base, verrucose with short unicellular silvery hairs. Spadix shortly stipitate, 8-20 cm long, stipe c. 0.5 cm long; female zone 1.8-2.0 cm long; male zone c. 2.8-3.0 cm long; appendix c. 10-12 cm long. Female flowers sub-spirally arranged, each with ovary c. 1.5 mm high, pale green and purplish at top, unilocular; style absent or very short, c. 0.2 mm long, purplish; stigma disciform, pale orange. Male flowers dense, each c. 2 mm high, pale pinkish. Spadix-appendix cylindric, tapering to apex, smooth or with inconspicuous rhomboidal projections at base, pale yellowish or rarely light reddish-brown. Fruits sub-globose to ellipsoid, reddish, c. 0.8-0.9 cm long. Seeds 0.7-0.8 cm long.
Phenology: Flowering: May-June; Fruiting: July-August.
Specimens examined: Karnataka: Uduppi, 24.5.1997, Abdul Jaleel RIA 56 (CALI); Ibid., 3.7.1999, Abdul Jaleel RIA 372 (CALI). Goa: Anmod Ghat, 4.6.1997, Abdul Jaleel RIA 67 (CALI). Maharashtra: Poona, Ambauni Taluk, near Forest Rest House, 6.9.1964, Venkata Reddi 99014 (CAL); Khurvada R.F., Bodhi Range, 11.1.1968, Billore, Acc. No. 113449 (CAL); Kolhapur, Amba Ghat, 7.6.1997, Abdul Jaleel RIA 74 (CALI).
Notes: Amorphophallus commutatus var. commutatus resembles the other two varieties, viz. Amorphophallus commutatus var. anmodensis and Amorphophallus commutatus var. wayanadensis in general appearance of the spathe and spadix. But it differs from the above two in having a cylindric basal tube of spathe without constriction between tube and limb, spadix with male zone obconical, more than twice or more or less thrice the length of female zone, and female flowers with purplish color at upper portion of ovary.
Distribution: Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra.
C. Amorphophallus commutatus var. wayanadensis Sivad. et Jaleel, Rheedea 12(2):163 (2002). (Fig. 6)
Type: India, Kerala, Wayanad Ghat, 29.4.1997, Abdul Jaleel & Bobby Thomas RIA 62 (Holotype - K).
Tubers 10-16 cm in diam. and 4.5-6.5 cm thick. Petiole 85-100 cm long, light greenish with whitish mottles and dark green dots, extreme base bluish green. Leaflets ovate-oblong, 4.5-18.0 x 2.2-5.5 cm, acuminate, base cuneate; upper surface dark green and lower surface light green, margin entire. Peduncle c. 75-95 cm long. Spathe ovate-oblong, equaling the length of spadix, c. 26-32 x 9-12 cm, basal portion convolute forming a slightly compressed obovoid tube of c. 5-7 cm long, slightly constricted at the mouth, limb expanded, erect, apex acute, margin incurved, purplish at the top, greenish purplish at base with white mottles; inside tube purplish at top, pale yellowish to light purplish with short rounded bumps at base. Spadix sessile, c. 27-30 cm long; female zone c. 2.3-2.5 cm long; male zone c. 3.7-4.0 cm long, appendix c. 20.5-23.0 cm long.
Female flowers with ovary sub-globose, 1.5-1.8 mm high and c. 0.2 mm in diam., green, unilocular; style very short or absent, light purplish; stigma discoid, orange-coloured. Male flowers sessile, loosely arranged, each flower c. 2 mm high, inconspicuously 2-lobed, pale yellowish with connectives purplish or completely purplish. Spadix-appendix cylindric, tapering to tip with rounded apex, smooth, reddish brown, base with inconspicuous, irregularly elongate rhomboid projections. Fruits broadly ovate, red-coloured berries, c. 1.2 cm long. Seeds c. 0.8 cm long.
Phenology: Flowering: May-June; Fruiting: July-August.
Specimens examined: Kerala: Palghat Dist.: Mukkali, 29.5.1966, Vajravelu 27711 (MH); Manthampotti, 16.5.1977, Sivadasan CU 19174 (CALI); Dhoni Hills, 26.1.1978, Sivadasan CU21434 (CALI); Wayanad Dist.: Vaithiri, 13.9.1975, Sivadasan CU 7815 (CALI); Wayanad Ghat, 29.4.1997, Abdul Jaleel & Bobby Thomas RIA 62 (CALI).
Notes: Amorphophallus commutatus var. wayanadensis reselmbes var. anmodensis in its general appearance of the spathe and spadix. But it is distinct in having a long peduncle of about 75-95 cm, tube of spathe yellowish with slight purplish colour at base with warts or verrucae and absence of unicellular silvery hairs within.
Distribution: So far known only from Kerala.
CULTIVARS: N/A
HYBRIDS: N/A
REFERENCES:
Additional photos by Dylan Rosario, Sagar Kulkarni, Christopher Mirandola
