疣柄蘑芋 you bing mo yu

Dracontium paeoniifolium Dennstedt, Schlüssel Hortus Malab. 13: (21, 38). 1818 ["paeoniaefolium"]; Amorphophallus campanulatus Decaisne; A. gigantiflorus Hayata; A. microappendiculatus Engler; A. paeoniifolius var. campanulatus (Decaisne) Sivadasan; Arum campanulatum Roxburgh, nom. illeg. superfl.; A. rumphii Gaudichaud, nom. illeg. superfl.; Candarum rumphii Schott, nom illeg. superfl.; Hydrosme gigantiflora (Hayata) S. S. Ying.

Tuber dark brown, depressed globose, ca. 20 cm high, to ca. 30 cm in diam., weighing up to ca. 15 kg; root scars prominent, annulate; offsets produced every season, thick and rhizomatous, to ca. 10 × 4 cm. Leaves 1 or 2; petiole background pale to dark green or blackish green, usually with large and small pale blotches and numerous tiny dark dots, large blotches often confluent, especially near base, petiole to ca. 2 m × 20 cm, shallowly corrugate to strongly echinate-verrucate; leaf blade highly dissected, to ca. 3 m in diam.; rachises narrowly or broadly winged almost to base; leaflets abaxially mid-green or pale green, adaxially mid-green, orbicular, oval, ovate, obovate, elliptic, elliptic-oblong, elliptic-lanceolate, or lanceolate, 3-35 × 2-12 cm, apex acuminate. Inflorescence shortly pedunculate; peduncle 3-20 × 1-8 cm, usually paler and more glabrous than petioles. Spathe campanulate, broader than long, 10-45 × 15-60 cm, base and limb often separated by a shallow constriction; limb spreading, background ranging from pale green to dark brown, usually with both large and small, orbicular paler spots, base inside proximal part deep maroon, distal part dirty whitish or very pale pinkish, limb outside as base but with more prominent maroon flushes, especially near margin, limb inside usually glossy dark maroon, strongly undulate, base outside very variable, base within densely verrucate, verrucae variable, mostly conic, fleshy. Spadix giving off a stench of rotting meat, sessile, shorter or longer than spathe, 7-70 cm; female zone cylindric, 3-25 × 1-12 cm, flowers congested or slightly distant; ovary entirely pale green or largely maroon with a whitish base, depressed, orbicular in cross section, 1.5-2.5 mm high, 3-5 mm in diam., 2- or 3-loculed; style maroon, 3-15 mm, slender, 1-1.5 mm in diam.; stigma pale or deep yellow, oval or triangular in cross section, large, 3-5 mm high, 4-7 mm in diam., often strongly laterally compressed, then cordate in longitudinal section, verruculose, shallowly or deeply 2- or 3-lobed, lobes rounded or conic, sometimes with a strong groove on outward side; male zone cylindric or strongly obconic, 2.5-15 cm, 1-10 cm in diam. at base, 1-20 cm in diam. at apex, flowers congested; male flowers consisting of 4-6 stamens; stamens 4-6 mm; filaments ca. 0.5 mm, connate; anthers off-white, cylindric, 3.5-5.5 × ca. 1.5 mm, subtruncate; pollen psilate; appendix very variable, glossy dark maroon, rarely pinkish or yellow, inflated, globose, depressed globose, ovoid, or triangular-conic (pyramidal), 1.5-30 cm, 1.2-30 cm in diam. (slightly above base), minutely granulate, glabrous or with various folds and/or irregular shallow depressions, base often with flattened, staminodal structures, apex obtuse or ± acute. Infructescence long pedunculate; peduncle stretching strongly after fertilization, 20-100 cm, becoming uniformly tan, with very numerous narrow, transverse cracks; fruiting zone cylindric, 10-50 × 3-8 cm. Berries closely set or slightly distant, ripening from green through yellow to bright red, elongate, 1.5-2 cm × 8-10 mm. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Oct-Nov.

Secondary conditions, secondary forests or highly disturbed areas, in dappled shade or fully exposed; sea level to 800 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, Yunnan [Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam; N Australia, Pacific islands; naturalized in Indian Ocean islands (Seychelles)].

This taxon is extensively cultivated as a tuber crop, serving as an important food for humans and as animal feed.