刺芋 ci yu

Dracontium spinosum Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 967. 1753; Lasia aculeata Loureiro; L. crassifolia Engler; L. desciscens Schott; L. hermannii Schott; L. heterophylla (Roxburgh) Schott; L. jenkinsii Schott; L. loureiroi Schott; L. roxburghii Griffith; L. zollingeri Schott; Pothos heterophyllus Roxburgh; P. lasia Roxburgh; P. spinosus (Linnaeus) Buchanan-Hamilton ex Wallich.

Herbs, 1-2 m tall. Stem long creeping and stoloniferous, erect or ascending, ca. 2.5 cm in diam., internodes with stout prickles. Petiole 32-125 cm, laxly prickly, sometimes almost smooth; pulvinus 15-35 mm, aculeate; leaf blade very variable, sagittate-hastate, 35-65 × 20-60 cm, simple or divided; anterior lobe entire or pedate to near midrib, acuminate; posterior lobes strongly downwardly directed to subspreading, once or twice bifid with 3 or 4 narrow to rather long acute or acuminate lateral segments; primary lateral veins 2-4, strong, secondary lateral veins thinner, higher order veins very numerous, all venation flush above, abaxially with rather small, straight to slightly curved prickles. Peduncle to 47 cm, laxly prickly. Spathe dull orange to black-red outside, dull yellow to rarely dull crimson inside, 18-35 cm with caudate part to 28 cm, proximally widened, very much shorter, 3-10 cm wide. Stipe of spadix obscure; spadix cylindric, 3-5 cm, in fruit elongated to 8 cm. Tepals oblong, 1.5-3 mm, apex triangular hooded, keeled. Filaments ca. 1.5 × 0.8 mm; anthers ca. 0.8 × 0.8 mm. Ovary ovoid, ca. 1.5 mm high. Fruit obpyramidal, ca. 1 cm wide, densely warty-aculeate, sides unarmed, when dry irregularly ribbed, apex truncate. Seed ovoid-cordate, 5-7 mm. Fl. Jul-Sep.

Swamps, riverbanks, ditches, moist places in tropical and subtropical forests, sometimes cultivated along fish ponds and rice fields; below 1500 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, S Xizang, Yunnan [Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, NE and SE India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam].

The Chinese record of Cyrtosperma lasioides Griffith (Fl. Hainan. 4: 129. 1977; FRPS 13(2): 13. 1979) was based on W. T. Tsang 553, collected in Hainan. This was, however, a misidentification, and the plants are actually Lasia spinosa (see H. Li et al., Acta Phytotax. Sin. 41: 577-581. 2003).

The young leaves are used as a vegetable. The rhizomes are used medicinally for treating tuberculosis of lymph nodes, swollen lymph nodes, stomach aches, snake and insect bites, injuries, and rheumatism.