AMORPHOPHALLUS TEUSZII
PROTOLOGUE: Amorphophallus teuszii (Engl.) Mottet, published in Flora of Tropical Africa 8: 149 (1901).
4. A. Teuszii, N. E. Br. Leaf 2-2½ ft. diam. glabrous; petiole 2 ft. (or more?) long, green, smooth; terminal segments 3-4½ in. long, ½ in. broad, the others smaller, all narrowly lanceolate, gradually tapering to a long acuminate point, decurrent at the base. Peduncle 1½-2 in. long, smooth. Spathe 5-6 in. long, convolute for about 1 in. into a cylindric tube 1 in. diam., green outside, pallid within; limb oblong, 3-7-lobed, erect and deeply concave in the lower part; lobes reflexed, green outside, blackish-purple within. Spadix shorter than the spathe; flowering part dense, cylindrical, about 4 lin. thick, slightly tapering in the upper part, female about ½ in. long, male 1¼ in. long; appendix 2 in. long, about 3½ lin. thick a little below the middle, thence tapering to the base and to the obtuse apex, slightly directed forwards, greenish. Ovary ovoid, green; stigma sessile, discoid, slightly excavated in the centre, scarcely lobed. Anthers yellow. - Hydrosme Teuszii, Engl. in Gartenfl. 1884, t. 1142, and Jahrb. xv. 459. Lower Guinea. Angola: Bismark Island, in the River Kuango, Teusz, 406!
SYNONYMS:
HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS: Hydrosme teuszii Engl. in Gartenflora 1884: 2 (1884)
HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS: Helicophyllum hastatum Freyn in Bull. Herb. Boissier 4: 179 (1896)
DISTRIBUTION: N. Angola to W. DR Congo: Angola, DR Congo.
DISTRIBUTION NOTE: Angola: Bismark Island in the River Kwango, where Teusz gathered it.².
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Leaf 2-2½ feet across [about 60-75 cm], hairless; petiole 2 feet [about 60 cm] long, or perhaps more, green and smooth; terminal segments 3-4½ inches [about 8-11 cm] long and ½ inch [about 1.3 cm] broad, the others smaller, all narrowly lanceolate, tapering gradually to a long acuminate point and decurrent at the base.²
INFLORESCENCE:
Peduncle 1½-2 inches [about 4-5 cm] long, smooth. Spathe 5-6 inches [about 13-15 cm] long, convolute for about an inch [about 2.5 cm] into a cylindric tube an inch across, green outside and pale within; limb oblong and 3-7-lobed, erect and deeply concave in the lower part, the lobes reflexed, green outside and blackish-purple within. Spadix shorter than the spathe; the flowering part dense and cylindrical, about 4 lines [about 8 mm] thick and tapering slightly above, the female zone about ½ inch [about 1.3 cm] long and the male 1¼ inches [about 3 cm]; appendix 2 inches [about 5 cm] long and about 3½ lines [about 7 mm] thick a little below the middle, thence tapering to the base and to the obtuse apex, directed slightly forwards, greenish. Ovary ovoid, green; stigma sessile, disc-shaped, slightly hollowed in the centre, scarcely lobed. Anthers yellow.²
ETYMOLOGY:
Named for Teusz, who gathered the plant on an island in the River Kwango in Angola. Engler published it first as Hydrosme teuszii and figured it in the Gartenflora for 1884, and N. E. Brown took it into Amorphophallus in the Flora of Tropical Africa.²
NOTES:
1. ⚠ The author did not accept the spathe as figured. He had seen only a cultivated leaf, and judged the very remarkable 3-7-lobed spathe that Engler drew and described to be probably abnormal - reasoning from the way the spadix bends forward that a properly formed spathe would prove to have a somewhat hooded limb with the apex directed forwards.²
2. Everything else in the account therefore rests on Engler's material rather than on plants the author examined.²
3. The appendix is about 5 cm long on a spathe of 13-15 cm, so it is a modest structure by the standards of the genus.²
4. The plant reached European horticulture early. A French gardening dictionary of 1892 already lists it under Amorphophallus, though spelled “Teutzii”, and refers readers to the Gartenflora plate.²
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Amorphophallus teuszii (Engl.) Mottet
2. Flora of Tropical Africa 8: 149 (1901) — protologue.