Anadendrum latifolium Hook., 1893

Rasingam, Ladan & Karthigeyan, Kaliyamurthy, 2021, Notes on the distribution of Anadendrum latifolium (Araceae) in India and its lectotypification, Phytotaxa 500 (2), pp. 149-152 : 149-151

Anadendrum latifolium Hook. f. (1893: 540). ( Fig. 1 )

Type:— PENINSULAR MALAYSIA. Perak, without date, B. Scortechini , 577b (lectotype K000401076 , image!, designated here). Fig. 2 .

Slender evergreen medium sized hemi epiphytic herbs to 3 m. Juvenile shoots stoloniferous, 4–6 mm in diam., with conspicuous nodes giving a segmented appearance; internodes cylindrical, 3–7 cm long, rooting. Adult shoots climbing; stem cylindrical, 4–6 mm diam., segmented in appearance; internodes 2.0– 3.5 cm long, drying dark brown. Leaves distichous, scattered; petiole 15–28 cm long, narrowly sheathing; sheaths c. 2/3 as long as the petiole, 3–6 mm wide, membranous, glabrous; leaf blade oblong, 25–35 × 10–15 cm, acute at base, entire along margins, cuspidate – acuminate at apex (acumen 2.5–3.0 cm long), chartaceous, glabrous; lateral veins 12–15 on each side, prominent, 1.5–2.0 cm distant, spreading and arched. Inflorescence axillary, 2–3 in each floral shoot; peduncle spreading, cylindrical, 15–25 cm long, glabrous. Fruit a berry, ovoid, 8–10 mm long, distinctly truncate at apex, thick walled, smooth, red on ripening, dark brownish when dry.

Flowering & Fruiting:— April-July.

Distribution:— India: Katchal Island, Andaman & Nicobar Islands; China, Indo-China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines.

Habitat:— Common in shaded inland forests.

Specimen examined:— India, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Katchal Island , East Bay, 7 th May 1977, P . Chakraborty 5614 ( PBL!) .

Notes:— Hooker (1893) described Anadendrum latifolium based on the three collections viz., Scortechini 577b and Kings’ collector 5961 & 8323 collected from the Perak region of Malay Peninsula. There are 6 specimens available in 4 herbaria viz., Scortechini , B ., Coll. No. 577b [ K000401076 ] ; King’s collector, Coll. No. 5961, [ K000401077 , image!; SING 0043211 , image!] , King’s collector, Coll. No. 8323 [ K000401078 , image!, BM000957215 , image!] and a single herbarium sheet (possibly the Scortechini collection without any number) with a line drawing and a collection number of 577b is available at CAL . Of these, the better preserved specimen K000401076 from Kew herbarium, is designated here as the lectotype as it agrees well with the protologue.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Anadendrum latifolium. Fruiting twig, from P. Chakraborty 5614. Drawn by Dineshwar Kumar Sah.

FIGURE 2. Lectotype of Anadendrum latifolium (B. Scortechini, 577b, K000401076) © The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Reproduced with the consent of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.