8. Alocasia acuminata Schott, Bonplandia (Hannover). 7: 28. 1859.
越境海芋 yue jing hai yu
Herbs, terrestrial, small to medium sized, slightly robust, to 75 cm tall, evergreen. Stem rhizomatous, generally elongate, erect, later decumbent, 8-75 × 2-6 cm. Leaves to 5 together, subtended by lanceolate papery-membranous cataphylls; petiole bright green, 15-80 cm, glabrous, sheathing in proximal 1/4; leaf blade spreading, bright green, narrowly hastate-sagittate to ovate-hastate, 15-60 × 8-20 cm; posterior lobes 1/4-1/3 length of anterior, peltate for 25-30% of their length, acute; anterior lobe with 3-6 primary lateral veins on each side, axillary glands hardly conspicuous, interprimary collective veins weakly defined. Inflorescences usually solitary; peduncle green, 9-20 cm, subtended by cataphylls. Spathe 7-10 cm, moderately constricted 1.5-2.5 cm from base; proximal spathe green, ovoid; limb pale green, lanceolate, canoe-shaped, 5.5-7.5 cm. Spadix subequaling spathe, 6-9.5 cm, sessile; female zone 1-1.5 cm; pistil green, subglobose, 1.5-2 mm in diam.; stigma white, subsessile, very slightly lobed; sterile zone 7-10 mm, narrower than fertile zones; synandrodes narrowly rhombic-hexagonal, flat-topped; male zone ivory, subcylindric, 1.2-2.5 cm × 4.5-8 mm; synandria 4-6-merous, ± hexagonal, ca. 2 mm in diam.; appendix white, 2.5-3.5 cm, demarcated from male zone by a strong constriction, narrowly conic. Fruiting spathe green, ovoid, 3-4 cm. Fruit ripening orange-red, globose-ellipsoid, ca. 0.75 cm in diam.
Everwet to seasonal perhumid evergreen forests, usually in deep shade, less often on track sides; 600-1800 m. S Yunnan [Bangladesh, NE India, N Laos, N Myanmar, Nepal, N Thailand, ?N Vietnam].