褐斑南星 he ban nan xing

Arisaema meleagris var. sinuatum Buchet; A. paichuanense Z. Y. Zhu; A. shimienense H. Li.

Tuber subglobose or depressed globose, 1-2.5 cm in diam. Cataphylls 2.4-12 cm, membranous, apex obtuse. Leaf solitary, pedate; petiole green with brown spots, 10-23 cm, proximally forming pseudostem; leaflets 7-9(-12), lanceolate, 3 cm (outermost one) to 10 × 1-2.5 cm, base acute, margin entire, usually erose, apex acuminate; central 3 subequal, remote, sessile; rachis between leaflets 5-10 mm. Peduncle green with brown spots, shorter than petioles, 5-15 cm. Spathe purplish brown with numerous dark brown spots, 6-9 cm in total; tube cylindric, 3-4 cm × 8-12 mm, throat auriculate and outcurved; limb suberect, dark purple at apex, ovate to elliptic, ca. 3.5 × 2 cm, apex acute or acuminate. Spadix unisexual; female zone ca. 7 × 4 mm; ovary yellow-green, obovoid; stigma subsessile, subglobose; male zone ca. 7 mm; synandria lax; anthers 2-4, sessile; thecae subglobose, dehiscing by lateral slits. Appendix erect, purple in basal and apical parts, whitish with purple spots at base, subcylindric, 2.5-3.5 mm, base narrowed into stipe 5-10 mm, apex obtuse. Fl. May-Jun.

● Broad-leaved forests, bamboo thickets; 2000-3000 m. Chongqing (Chengkou), Sichuan, Yunnan (Dali, Zhenxiong).

This species is similar to Arisaema auriculatum in A. sect. Tortuosa in its small size, range of variation of leaf shape, and coloration of the spathe.