AMORPHOPHALLUS GRACILIOR
PROTOLOGUE: Amorphophallus gracilior Hutch., published in Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information KEW 1939 (Issue 5) P.245. The protologue is reproduced below.
SYNONYMS:
HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS: Amorphophallus gracilis A.Chev. in Expl. Bot.: 653 (1920), nom. illeg.
DISTRIBUTION: S. Benin to SW. Nigeria: Benin, Nigeria.
DISTRIBUTION NOTE: Nigeria: Ogun State Benin: Plateau Department.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Tuber 1-4x2,5-10 cm Ø, flattened from above to rounded; leaf c. 40-70 cm long, with petiole c. 12-60 cm long; blade c. 28-50 cm Ø, ultimate leaf-lobes long-ovate to ovoid, 9-15x 3-4 cm, apex to 1 cm long
INFLORESCENCE:
Inflorescence 20-40 cm long, produced before leaf; peduncle smooth, 15-32 cm long, 1,5-3 mm Ø; spathe slender, 3-7x1,5-2,5 cm, very thin, not constricted, apex triangular, base 2-3x1,5-2 cm, cylindrical, outside grey to green or cream with greenish to purple veins; inside smooth to ± warty; spadix sessile, 6-8 cm long; berries 1x1 cm, rounded, red.
ECOLOGY:
Flooded rain-forest; swamps; with Raphia, Cynometra vogelii, Ficus vogeliana, etc.; clayey soil; mud.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin gracilior, “more slender” or “more graceful,” the comparative of gracilis. The epithet likely refers to the species’ notably slender habit, particularly its thin peduncle and small, delicate inflorescence. Amorphophallus gracilior is among the smallest-flowered African species of the genus.
NOTES:
1. Unverified but a source lists this species as having the smallest inflorescence in the genus in Africa
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Amorphophallus gracilior Hutch.
2. Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information KEW 1939 (Issue 5) P.245 — protologue.