ARUM BRUNNEOVIOLACEUM

PROTOLOGUE: Arum brunneoviolaceum , published in Aroideana 49(1): 2 (2026).

Arum brunneoviolaceum G. Corazza & L. Cortopassi, sp. nov. Diagnosis: similar to Arum dioscoridis Sm. but spathe limb cucullate, dark purple-brown on both pages, with some even darker spots in its inner middle-lower part. Type: cultivated in Camaiore, Italy, 30 March 2024, G. Corazza & L. Cortopassi 22 [orig. coll. Central Turkey (without precise locality), 2003, E. Dambrauskas] (holotype, BR).

DISTRIBUTION: Türkiye.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION:

Tuberous winter-growing herb. Tuber elliptical-discoid, horizontally orientated, 7–8 cm high, 4–5.5 cm wide, 2.5–3.5 cm thick, producing a few lateral offsets. Petiole base sheathed and channelled for 12.5–16 cm. Maximum sheath width (lateral) 0.8–1.5 cm. Petiole cylindrical, green, 23–38 cm in length × 0.5–1.3 cm in diameter. Leaf lamina hastate, plain green, 12–25 × 4.5–16 cm. Basal lobes 6.5–9.5 long × 4–7 cm wide.

INFLORESCENCE:

Peduncle 1.5–3.6 cm long over the soil level, 8.0–11.0 cm from the tuber × 0.8–0.9 cm in diameter. Spathe tube diameter 2.8–3.3 cm (externally), whitish green outside, stained with dark purple on the margins and in its upper part, almost fully white inside but its light purple upper part. Spathe somewhat cucullate 24–28 cm long, dark purple-brown on both pages, spotted with even darker blotches in the middle-lower part of its limb. A thin (0.5 cm) greenish midvein is present on the external lower half of the limb, reaching the tube. Spathe diameter 6.5–8.0 cm in the widest section. Spadix 15.4–17.5 cm long. Female zone length 1.2–1.9 cm. Ovaries ovoidal, 0.3 × 0.2 cm. Pistillodes zone length 0.8–1 cm. Pistillodes in 3–4 whorls. Pistillode bristles (0–) 0.7 cm long, slightly subulate-fleshy, purple, not reaching the spathe tube. Lower interstice 0.3–0.5 cm. Male zone 0.7–0.8 cm long, cylindrical (not like a depressed sphere). Upper interstice 0.6–0.7 cm. Staminodes zone length 0.3–0.5 cm. Staminodes in 1 (–2) whorls. Staminode bristles (0–) 0,7 cm long, purple, fleshy, stiff, blunt at apex, not touching or slightly touching the spathe tube. Stipe 3.5–4.2 cm long × 0.5–0.9 cm in diameter, dark purple-reddish. Spadix appendix 8.0–9.0 cm long × 0.9–1.3 cm in diameter, clavate, stipitate, dark purple-brown.

ECOLOGY:

Anthesis in late March to early April (observed in cultivated plants in Camaiore, Italy). Inflorescences emitting a strong odour of horse dung. Infructescence not observed.

ETYMOLOGY:

The epithet is the Latin for “purple-brown”, for the spathe-limb, which is dark purple-brown on both faces.

REFERENCES:

1. Aroideana 49(1): 2 (2026) — protologue.

2. Corazza, C., & L.Cortopassi 2026. Arum brunneoviolaceum (Araceae), a new species from Central Turkey.