More Description

(1999) Gardens' Bulletin Singapore v.51 p.30 (2)

(See Fig. 1)

Alocasia scalprum A. Hay, sp. nov.

Ab aliis speciebus Alocasiis Philippinarum lamina folii parva tenuiter lanceolata subfalcata, lobis posticis minutis, venis impressis differt. - TYPUS: Cult. Botanischer Garten Miinchen, origin unknown, 1983, /. Bogner 1659 (M, holo).

[Alocasia cv. Samar Lance; see Burnett, Aroideana 7 (1984) 99, fig. 38].

Diminutive to small herb; leaves several together; petiole shorter than the blade, to ca. 10 cm long, sheathing in the lower third, green mottled darker green; blade narrowly lanceolate, slightly falcate, 15-25 cm long x 2-5 cm wide; anterior lobe ca. 14-22 cm long, with the margin entire and slightly revolute (dry); anterior costa with 2-3 primary lateral veins on each side diverging at ca. 45°, like the costae and secondary venation deeply impressed adaxially, prominent abaxially; secondary venation arising from the primary at a low angle and running to margin, not or hardly forming interprimary collective veins; posterior lobes much reduced, forming narrowly triangular auricles 1.5-3 cm long; posterior costae poorly developed, naked in the sinus for ca. 1 cm to almost throughout their length; inflorescence solitary; peduncle subequalling the petioles at anthesis; spathe ca. 6 cm long; lower spathe ca. 1.5 cm long, subcylindric, differentiated from the limb by a weak, gradual constriction; limb lanceolate, green, mucronate for ca. 5 mm; spadix somewhat shorter than the spathe, stipitate for 5 mm, the stipe partly adnate to the spathe; female zone ca. 6 mm long, obliquely inserted on the stipe, narrow, ca. 3 mm thick (dry); ovaries subglobose, ca. 1.2 mm diam.; stigma sessile, discoid, almost as wide as the ovary, weakly 2-3-lobed; sterile interstice ca. 9 mm long, the lowermost synandrodia reduced, thence the interstice ca. 3 mm thick, slightly tapering distally; male zone somewhat thicker than the upper part of the interstice, 4.5 mm diam, 8 mm long; synandria rhombo-hexagonal, strongly wavy-edged, ca. 1.5 mm diam.; appendix 1.6 cm long, tapering; infructescence unknown.

Distribution: Philippines, said to be known only from Samar.

Habitat: Unknown.

Notes: This species is apparently quite well-known in cultivation in the Philippines, but is not represented by any wild-collected herbarium material. Burnett (1984) notes that what is considered in the horticultural community to be one species is highly variable and he lists four selected varieties all said to have originated from the island of Samar. The only material I have seen in flower, which forms the holotype, seems exactly to match the cultivar known as 'Samar Lance'. Although it seems probable that the other forms mentioned and illustrated in Burnett (loc. cit.) are conspecific with A. scalprum, this remains to be verified.

The specific epithet alludes to the knife-shaped leaf blade.