假芋 jia yu

Colocasia heterochroma H. Li & Z. X. Wei; C. kerrii Gagnepain; C. tibetensis J. T. Yin; C. yunnanensis C. L. Long & X. Z. Cai.

Herbs, small to somewhat robust, stoloniferous. Rhizome erect, up to 7 × 1-1.5 cm; stolons pale green or pale purple, erect or creeping, mostly simple, 5-60 cm × up to 6 mm, internodes 0.5-1.5 cm, bearing ovoid or cylindric-ovoid tubercles to 3.5 cm in diam., or without tubercles. Leaves 3-8; petiole green, sometimes with transverse purple lines, cylindric, 12-57 cm, sheathing for almost 1/2 length; leaf blade paler or slightly glaucous abaxially, green or with dark purple patches between primary veins adaxially, cordate-peltate, ovate-cordate, or narrowly oblong-ovate, 8-36 × 3.3-29 cm, membranous, apex apiculate; primary lateral veins 5-7. Inflorescences 1-5 together; peduncle green, cylindric, 4-23 cm, slender. Spathe constricted or not between tube and limb; tube green, funnelform or subcylindric, 1.7-4.2 × 0.7-1.7 cm, margins convolute; limb at anthesis proximally gaping, distally convolute, erect, sometimes slightly reflexed after anthesis, orange-yellow, golden yellow, or yellowish basally, violet apically, narrowly lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 5-11.2 × 2.7-4.8 cm, apex long acuminate. Spadix sessile, to 6.5 cm, shorter than spathe; female zone yellow, pale yellowish, or green, conic or cylindric, 1-2.6 cm × 4-6 mm, with 4-6 rows of whitish or yellow staminodes at base; ovary green, speckled white, subglobose or ovoid to oblong, ca. 1 mm, 1-loculed; placentae 3; stigma sessile or subsessile, disciform-capitate, or disciform at base and tapering distally into a linear point to 0.5 mm; sterile zone present between female and male zones; male zone yellow, cylindric, 1.1-4.6 cm × 3-6 mm; synandria golden yellow, polygonal, 6-12-androus; distal sterile zone (between male zone and appendix) cream-colored, cylindric, 0.5-1.2 cm × 1-3 mm, with white hairs, hairs 10-15 mm at anthesis, disappearing on drying; synandrodes broadly oblong to depressed ovate or depressed obpyramidal, apex truncate or subtruncate; appendix absent or yellowish, cylindric or narrowly conic, 2.5-4.5 cm × 1-2.5 mm, scaly-rough, base distinctly constricted or not, apex acute. Berry ripening yellow, ovoid, ca. 2 mm. Fl. Mar-Sep, fr. Jul-Oct. 2n = 28.

Dense forests, humid forest margins, moist mossy rock faces in forests, valley scrub, moist shaded places along streams; 700-1400 m. SE Xizang (Mêdog), S and W Yunnan [N Bangladesh, Bhutan, NE India, Nepal, Thailand].