AMORPHOPHALLUS SALMONEUS
PROTOLOGUE: Amorphophallus salmoneus Hett., published in Blumea 39: 275 (1994).
Amorphophallus salmoneus Hett., spec. nov. A speciebus omnibus in staminodiorum applanatorum rugulosorum zona inter zonas masculas femineasque, appendice valde verrucosa differt. - Typus: Hetterscheid H.AM.036-T (L holo; spirit coll.), cult. Hort. Bot. Leiden ex Philippines, Palawan (orig. coll. Podzorski, Palawan Botanical Expedition nr. 156).
DISTRIBUTION: Philippines: Philippines.
DISTRIBUTION NOTE: Philippines: Palawan, and Langen (Malapakan) Island.².
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Tuber depressed-globose, 4-15 cm across. Leaf solitary; petiole smooth, entirely green or with a few scattered small white dots, rather turgid, 5-70 cm long and up to about 2.5 cm across at the base. Lamina highly dissected, up to 110 cm across, the lower part of the rachises unwinged; leaflets elliptic-lanceolate, long acuminate with an acumen 3-4 cm long, the base shortly decurrent, the upper surface mid-green with impressed venation, 18-29 cm long and 6-8 cm across.²
INFLORESCENCE:
Inflorescence solitary and long-peduncled; peduncle as the petiole but slightly laterally compressed, 18-45 cm long and 0.5-1.5 cm across at the base. Spathe ovate-triangular, acute, 9-20 cm long and 6-10 cm across, the lower 3.5-6 cm convolute and tubular with a slight constriction at the top; outside the base pale whitish green or pale magenta, inside pale green, dirty reddish brown and minutely warted towards the base; limb triangular, the upper half curved forward at anthesis and the basal margins slightly recurved, outside pale whitish green in the middle and suffused with pale reddish brown towards the margin, or entirely pale magenta, inside nearly entirely pale reddish brown or pale magenta, or only so in the upper third. Spadix sessile, 9.5-20 cm long, equalling the spathe; female part cylindric, 0.8-2 cm long and 0.9-1.5 cm across, the flowers congested; a sterile zone between the female and male parts, cylindric, 0.5-1.5 cm long and 0.8-1.4 cm across, covered with staminodes; male part cylindric or slightly conic, 3-7 cm long and 0.8-1.3 cm across at the base, the flowers congested; appendix elongate-conic, 4-11 cm long and 0.8-1.7 cm across at the base, pale yellowish white, nearly entirely to entirely warted, producing a heavy gaseous stench at female anthesis. Ovaries depressed, subangulate in cross section, 2-3 mm across and 1.5 mm high, ivory-white at the base and pale green above, unilocular; style slender, very eccentric, strongly curved upwards, green, 2-3 mm long and 0.8-1.2 mm across; stigma transversely elongate, thin, more or less two-lipped, the upper margin three-pointed, the lobes and points separated by grooves, the surface minutely scabrate, very pale whitish green, turned towards the axis of the spadix, 2 by 1 mm. Male flowers of 1 or 2 stamens; stamens rectangular, 2.3-3 by 1-1.5 mm and 1.5-2 mm high; filaments absent; anthers oval with a rounded or subtruncate top, salmon-pink, the connective slightly raised, creamy-white and with a deep longitudinal groove, the pores apical and elongate. Pollen fossulate. Staminodes of the neuter zone large and congested, ovate or elliptic or irregularly angulate, depressed, slightly convex, yellowish white, the surface rugulose, 2-6 mm across.²
ECOLOGY:
Recorded from a karst outcrop at 260 m, in open pole forest with rattans and climbing bamboo, growing in a soil pocket on a steep slope.²
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin salmoneus, “salmon-colored,” referring to the characteristic soft reddish-pink coloration of the inflorescence. The spathe varies from pale whitish green to pale magenta or reddish brown, producing the salmon-toned appearance reflected in the name.
NOTES:
1. The species is separated from every other in the genus by two characters taken together: a zone of flattened, wrinkled staminodes between the male and female zones, and a strongly warted appendix.²
2. It resembles Amorphophallus krausei of Thailand, Burma and Yunnan, but differs in a longer and warted appendix, a spathe with a tubular base, a two-lipped stigma, and shorter, broader leaflets.²
3. The style is set well off-centre on the ovary and curves strongly upwards.²
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Amorphophallus salmoneus Hett.
2. Blumea 39: 275 (1994) — protologue.
3. Alan Galloway — Amorphophallus salmoneus, alangallowaybotanicals.com.