AMORPHOPHALLUS LINEARIS

PROTOLOGUE: Amorphophallus linearis Gagnep., published in Notulae Systematicae (Paris) 9: 119 (1941). The protologue is reproduced below.

DISTRIBUTION: Thailand: Thailand.

DISTRIBUTION NOTE: Thailand: brought from Kanchanaburi and grown at Bangkok (Kerr 17570); Nakhon Sawan (Put 4056); and the Malay Peninsula at Chumphon (Kerr 16216).².

SPECIES DESCRIPTION:

Translated from protologue: Tuber unknown. Leaves trisect, the divisions 20-25 cm long, forked 2-5 cm above the base, the segments linearly acuminate, broadly decurrent on the rachis over 8-10 mm, 5-10 cm long, 8-12 mm wide, the marginal vein rather prominent; petiole 30 cm long or more, fairly slender.²

INFLORESCENCE:

Translated from protologue: Spathe 8-13 cm long, lanceolate, acuminate, not spreading open, 2 cm wide, enveloping at the base, pale, yellowish-rose when dried. Spadix very long, 24 cm, with the appendix arched and pendulous; female zone 12-15 mm long; male zone terete, 3-4 cm long, cylindrical, 5 mm thick; appendix whip-like, 20 cm long, almost reaching the ground. Anthers of the stamens very densely set, suborbicular at the apex, 0.6 mm in diameter, opening by opposite oblong pores. Ovaries globose-depressed; style about as long as the ovary; stigma globular or nearly so, about as thick as the ovary.²

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin linearis, "linear", for the narrow, linear leaflets; Gagnepain described the species from Siam in 1941.²

NOTES:

1. Amorphophallus linearis is close to Amorphophallus parvulus, from which it is distinguished by its very long, whip-like appendix, its large, undivided stigma and its linear leaflets.⁴

REFERENCES:

1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Amorphophallus linearis Gagnep.

2. Notulae Systematicae (Paris) 9: 119 (1941) — protologue.

3. Alan Galloway — Amorphophallus linearis, alangallowaybotanicals.com.

4. Aroideana 19 (1996):P7 - 131

Additional photos by David Livingston and Theerasak Uttarapong