Arisaema peltatum C.E.C.Fisch., Bull. Misc. Inf. Royal Gard. Kew 1936

Arisaema peltatum C.E.C.Fisch., Bull. Misc. Inf. Royal Gard. Kew 1936 View in CoL (4): 277. 1936; Chatterjee, Bull. Bot. Soc. Bengal 8: 130. 1955; Manudev & Nampy, ENVIS News Lett. 20(1): 4. 2015. Type: INDIA , Kerala, Idukki district, Munnar, 12.06.1935, E. Barnes 1147 ( K000203012 digital image!).

A. leschenaultii auct . Gusman & L. Gusman, Arisaema ed. 2. 392. 2006, pro parte, non Blume 1836. Fig. 22 View Figure 22

Deciduous, dioecious, succulent, perennial herbs, 38–130 cm tall. Subterranean stem a tuberous corm, globose, 2.5–4.5 cm diam., 1–2 cm wide, smooth or wrinkled, stoloniferous. Cataphylls 2 or 3, acute-obtuse at apex; outer 2–6.5 cm long, pale coloured, often mottled with brownish streaks in mature plants; middle 6–13.6 cm long, mottled with brownish patches or streaks; inner 17–45 cm long, strongly mottled, darker. Leaf solitary, radiatisect, emerging after the inflorescence; petiole slender, 38–65 cm long, 0.8–1 cm thick, light green mottled with brownish streaks; leaflets 5–10, oblong-oblanceolate, 15–34 cm long, 2–10 cm wide, cuneate at base, narrowly acute to acuminate, margins greenish to hyaline, praemorse, strongly undulate (appears to be serrate), darker above, glaucous or whitish beneath, lateral veins up to 26 pairs, intra marginal vein 0.4–0.6 cm apart from the margins. Inflorescence not exceeding the height of the leaf; peduncle slender, 25–90 cm long, 1.5–3.5 cm long, exerted by 8–14 cm from the sheathing pseudostem, light green with purplish mottling towards the distal portion. Spathe 13–30 cm long, glossy in texture; tube of spathe cylindric towards base, funnel-shaped distally, 5–11 cm long, c. 2.5 cm broad, purple to brownish towards the base, greenish distally with white bands over the veins; margins of the mouth revolute; limb ovate-lanceolate, 8.5–19 cm long, 3–6 cm wide, greenish with white bands; bands wider towards the base and narrower towards the apex, narrowly acuminate at apex, tapering in to a slender tail, arching forward and upcurved with erect tip or often drooping (probably after anthesis), thus reaching the tip almost to the base of the tube. Female spadix sessile, c. 12.6 cm long, 0.6–0.7 cm thick; female fertile region c. 4 cm long, followed by neuters along c. 4 cm; pistils many, compactly arranged, green; ovules up to 5, white; stigma papillose, stellate, sessile; neuters subulate, many, 0.7–1.2 cm long, scattered, upcurved, pale to purplish; appendix cylindric, reaching the mouth of the tube or just exceeding, blunt at apex, slightly curved distally, green to light green, purplish below. Male spadix sessile, slender, slightly tapering to a blunt tip, 4.5–6.5 cm long, not exceeding the tube or just reaching the mouth; appendix sessile, slightly thickened at the base and appears to be stipitate, 2.5–3.5 cm long; male flowers scattered over 2–3 cm along the spadix, sessile or subsessile, 3–4-androus; anthers, purple, dehisce by an apical pore; neuters absent. Fruiting spike not seen.

Flowering: May–July.

Habitat: In grass lands and shola forests at an elevation above 1200 m above sea level.

Distribution: India (southern Western Ghats), endemic.

Specimens examined: INDIA , Kerala, Idukki district, Munnar-Poopara road, 23.05.2011, Manudev & Santhosh Nampy 4432 (DEV!); Kundala to Mannavan Shola, on the way, 23.05.2015, Manudev & Syam Radh 138961; Munnar-Pallivasal, 12.05.1935, E. Barnes 1146 (K digital image!, CALI!); Mannavan Shola National Park, on the way to Kanthallur, 23.05.2015, Manudev & Syam Radh 138964, 138967 (CALI!); Travancore, few miles above Munnar, s.d., E. Barnes 1115(3) (K paratype, digital image!).

Notes: This species is recently rediscovered by Manudev and Nampy (2015) and is characterized by radiate leaflets, flagellate-caudate limb and rounded clavate spadix appendix, often with neuters at the base. However this species shows some deviation from the typical characters of the Sect. Sinarisaema- spadix appendage being slender and slightly tapering towards the apex, neuters present along the half way of appendix. Gusman and Gusman (2006) assigned this species as a synonym of A. leschenaultii Blume along with few other species from southern India and Sri Lanka, considering the latter as a polymorphic species. However, this species is quite distinct and can be distinguished from the latter by its sessile, narrow leaflets with strong wavy margins and glaucous underneath; hyaline to white-striped, yellowish-green limb tapering into a slender tail and sessile, slender, spadix appendix with neuters along half the length.