Arisaema peerumedense J.Mathew, Ann. Bot. Fennici

Arisaema peerumedense J.Mathew, Ann. Bot. Fennici View in CoL 54: 29. 2017. Type: INDIA , Kerala, Idukki district, Peerumedu, tract to Parunthumpara , 1350

m, 14.06.2015, J. Mathew 4824 (holo TBGT; iso SESH). Fig. 21 View Figure 21

Dioecious, perennial herbs, to 1.75 m tall. Corms globose to subglobose, 3–5 diam., 2–2.5 cm tall, cream-white, stoloniferous. Cataphylls 3 or 4: outer c. 3.5 cm long, acute-obtuse at apex, pale rose to white coloured; middle 8–10 cm long, rose to flesh coloured; inner 19–20 cm long, rose-brown, with white or purplish dots, almost reaching to the length of pseudostem; often a forth outer cataphyll may also present, c. 1.5 cm, rose to pale coloured. Leaf solitary, rarely 2; petiole c. 125 cm long, petiole slender, c. 125 cm long, 1–2.5 cm thick, brownish green mottled with pink; leaflets radiatisect, 8–12, 22–35 cm long, 5–9 cm wide, lanceolate, base cuneate, narrowly acuminate, margins entire, wavy, bright green above, pale beneath, margins greenish to hyaline, lateral veins up to 25 pairs, intra marginal vein c. 0.5 cm apart from the margins. Spadix dioecious, not exceeding the height of the leaf; peduncle slender, 100–142 cm long, 1.5–3.5 cm long thick, exserted by 7–18 cm from the sheathing pseudostem, greenish purple. Spathe 20–30 cm long; tube of spathe cylindric towards base, funnel-shaped distally, 5–11 cm long, 1.5– 2.5 cm broad, light purple towards the base, pale purple distally, dark purple within with greenish-white bands over the veins; margins of the mouth auriculate, dilates in to a prominent auricular extension c. 2.5 cm wide; limb oblong-lanceolate, purple with greenish white bands, 24–26 × 8–9 cm, narrowly acuminate at apex, tapering in to a slender tail, arching forward, thus reaching the tip almost to the base of the tube. Female spadix sessile, c. 11.5–15 cm long, 1–2 cm wide; fertile region of 3.5–4 cm, followed by neuters along c. 2 cm; pistils many, sessile, compactly arranged, globose, green; ovules 3–5, white; stigma papillate, stellate, sessile-subsessile, often with a dark neck; neuters subulate, few, 0.5–1 cm long, scattered, upcurved, white to purple, appendix, cylindric-fusiform, broader at middle, tapering to both sides, reaching the mouth of the tube or just exceeding, blunt at apex, slightly curved distally, green to light green, purplish below. Male spadix sessile, similar to female, slender, c. 13 cm long, 1–1.5 cm thick; fertile region c. 4 cm long, male flowers scattered over or crowded at the base and distant above, sessile, 3–5-androus; anthers sessile, purple, dehisce by an apical pore; neuters few, subulate, c. 1 cm long, purplish. Fruiting spike cylindrical, borne on an upright peduncle; berries globose, compactly arranged, c. 3-seeded.

Flowering & fruiting: June–July.

Habitat: Grows in shola evergreen forests, under shaded conditions at an elevation above 1350 m.

Distribution: India (southern Western Ghats), endemic.

Specimen examined: INDIA , Kerala, Idukki district, Peerumedu, 30.06.2016, Arunkumar 149282 (CALI!). Notes: A. peerumedense is closely related to A. leschenaultii Blume but can be distinguished by its sessile, distally curved, cylindric-fusiform spadix appendix. The authors have also encountered intermediates between these two taxa in southern Western Ghats which render the identification of these two taxa dubious.