曲序南星 qu xu nan xing

Arum tortuosum Wallich, Pl. Asiat. Rar. 2: 10. 1831; Arisaema helleborifolium Schott; A. tortuosum var. helleborifolium (Schott) Engler.

Plants monoecious or male. Tuber depressed globose, 2-6 cm in diam. Cataphylls and petiole variously blotched with pinkish, gray dark brownish, or purplish. Leaves (1 or)2 or 3; petiole 5-30(-180) cm, proximal 2/3-5/6 sheathing into pseudostem; leaf blade pedate; leaflets 5-17, shortly petiolulate or sessile, greenish abaxially, dull green adaxially, variously shaped, rhombic-ovate or oblong to lanceolate, base cuneate, apex abruptly acuminate; central leaflet 5-30 × 1-7 cm; lateral leaflets gradually smaller to outermost. Peduncle emerging from pseudostem, 30-45(-200) cm, usually exceeding leaves. Spathe light green, usually glaucous green or dark purple; tube cylindric or funnelform, 2.5-7 × 1.5-3 cm, throat margins obliquely truncate, not recurved; limb slightly incurved, ovate or oblong, 4-12 × 2-5 cm, apex shortly acuminate. Spadix bisexual or male. Bisexual spadix: proximal part female, 2-4 cm; ovary broadly ovoid; style short; stigma disciform; male zone 2-3 cm. Male spadix: male zone ca. 4 cm; synandria widely spaced, stalked (1-3 mm), cream to orange, consisting of 2 or 3(-5) anthers; thecae dehiscing by lateral slits. Appendix ascending, sigmoid, green, glaucous, or dark purple, gradually tapering from sessile base to very acute apex, 7-23 mm, 3-12 mm in diam. at base, smooth. Infructescence upright, subglobose. Berries red. Seeds 3-5. Fl. Jun, fr. Aug.

Rocky slopes, path sides, streamsides, especially in disturbed areas; 1300-2900 m. Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India, Nepal].