AMORPHOPHALLUS KUZNETSOVII
PROTOLOGUE: Amorphophallus kuznetsovii (Serebryanyi) Hett. & Claudel, published in Aroideana 35: 43 (2012).
Pseudodracontium kuznetsovii Serebryanyi, spec. nov. Planta robusta, ad 85 cm alta. Pedunculus petiolum valde superans, petiolus et pedunculus badius. Spadix ad 20 cm longus. Pars mascula et appendix dorsiventraliter compressa, flores masculi distantes. Appendix breviter stipitata, cerebriformis, fissuris apice truncatis. — Typus: Hetterscheid H.AM.165-T (MHA holo, spirit coll.), 15 July 1992, cult. Hort. Bot. Leiden ex Vietnam, Xuen Moc Reserve, easternmost part of Dong Nai Prov. (orig. coll. Kuznetsov, 1991).
SYNONYMS:
HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS: Pseudodracontium kuznetsovii Serebryanyi in Blumea 40: 226 (1995)
DISTRIBUTION: S. Vietnam: Vietnam.
DISTRIBUTION NOTE: Vietnam: Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province, Xuyen Moc (Binh Chau-Phuoc Buu National Park)⁵. The type label reads 'Dong Nai province': Ba Ria-Vung Tau was carved out of Dong Nai in 1991, the year of the original collection, and Xuyen Moc lies in the new province.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Robust plants. Tuber 11–13 cm long, diameter of the upper part 4–6 cm, the base branched. Petiole up to 68 cm long, 1.7 cm diam. at the base, ground colour chocolate brown with minute white spots, covered with large, near-black, faint spots, surface glossy; anterior main segment 24–43 cm long, undivided (young plant) or carrying up to c. 6 'leaflets'; posterior main segments carrying 4–9 'leaflets', up to 55 cm long; 'leaflets' leathery, elongate elliptic to lanceolate, up to 20 cm long and 6.5 cm diam., upper surface glossy dark green.⁴
INFLORESCENCE:
Inflorescence longer than petiole; peduncle 36–85 cm long, slightly paler than petiole, immediately below the spathe suddenly very pale purplish with darker purplish veins. Spathe cymbiform, acute, 17.5–25 cm long, 6–8 cm diam., green, becoming paler on both sides, base inside darker green and with many punctiform warts. Spadix 12–18.5 cm long; female zone cylindric, 3.5–4 cm long, 1.6–1.7 cm diam., flowers congested; male zone dorso-ventrally compressed, especially the upper half, 5.5–8 cm long, cross section at the top up to 2.3 × 1.4 cm, at the base 2.1 × 1.8 cm, flowers very distant; appendix shortly stipitate, obtuse, conic, slightly dorso-ventrally compressed, 3–6 cm long, up to 2.5 cm diam. at the base, ivory white, brain-like, with convolutions truncate at the apex (surface appearing smooth), stipe c. 0.5 cm long, 1.8 × 0.9 cm in cross section. Ovaries more or less pyriform, irregular in cross section, 2–2.5 mm diam., dirty white with a faint greenish flush; style 0.5 mm long; stigma 0.5–1 mm diam., discoid, surface scabrate. Male flowers consisting of (2 or) 4–6 stamens; filaments mostly free, in uppermost and lowermost flowers irregularly to entirely connate; anthers almost always free, occasionally irregularly connate in the lowermost flowers. Fruits and seeds not seen.⁴
ETYMOLOGY:
Named in honour of Dr. Andrew Kuznetsov, who collected the type plant in the Xuyen Moc Reserve in 1991.⁴
NOTES:
1. Pseudodracontium kuznetsovii differs from all other species on account of the robust and partly strongly dorso-ventrally compressed spadix. The description of Pseudodracontium kuznetsovii is entirely based on observations of the type plant during three years of cultivation (Hort. Bot. Leiden).⁴
2. When molecular and morphological evidence showed the genus Pseudodracontium to be nested within Amorphophallus, Hetterscheid and Claudel transferred the species as Amorphophallus kuznetsovii.²
3. Amorphophallus kuznetsovii is one of the Vietnamese members of the Amorphophallus lacourii complex, a group of about five species currently being studied with molecular genetic data, inter-population variability, distribution, and habitat patterns.⁶
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Amorphophallus kuznetsovii (Serebryanyi) Hett. & Claudel
2. Aroideana 35: 43 (2012) — protologue.
3. Aroideana 19 (1996):P7 - 131
4. A revision of Pseudodracontium (Araceae). Blumea 40(1): 217-235 (1995)
5. New tuberous Araceae from Binh Thuan Province (South Vietnam). Blumea 68: 39-48 (2023)