| Field notes | Solitary. Stem subterranean, horizontal and ascending, 6-8 cm long, 3-4 cm diam., with 1-2 mm thick roots all around. Leaves 10-12 in basal rosette, erect and spreading. Petiole 17-30 cm, without sheath but surrounding the stem for c. half its diam., narrowing to c. 5 mm wide below the blade, rounded below, flat or shallowly convex above, margin between upper and lower surface slightly winged. Rachis 45-90 cm long, rounded below, sharply angled above, when young reddish brown from pubescent or scaly cover. Leaf blade entire or split into 2 or 3 segments on each side,each segment with one to many primary nerves, bifid at apex, acute at base and running down the petiole, blade 20-28 cm wide. Inflorescence infrafoliar, erect; prophyll 7-8 cm long, 1-5 cm wide, thin fibrous, irregularly splitting at top, bicarinate, green to brown; peduncular bract 26-27 cm long, c. 1 cm wide, thin fibrous, irregularly splitting at apex, lanceolate in cross-section, green brown; peduncle 20-52 cm long, dorsoventrally compressed, 5-7 mm wide, green at anthesis, becoming orange at fruiting; flowering section spicate with a thickened rachis, orange, 12-22 cm long, 1-1.5 cm thick, the apex drawn out into a pointed tip; flowers all around the spike and sunken into it. Fruits round, 8-9 mm diam., with apical stigmatic scar, exocarp maroon, mesocarp fleshy, yellowish white c. 1 mm thick. Duplicates at: AAU, NY, QCA. |
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