Amorphophallus konjac K.Koch

Scholten, J., 2023, An updated identification guide to the species of Amorphophallus (Araceae): new synonyms and a set of global dichotomous keys, Blumea 68 (2), pp. 139-161 : 142

Amorphophallus konjac K.Koch

Amorphophallus konjac K.Koch (1858) 166. — Neotype (designated by Hetterscheid 1994): Forrest 20812 (neo E [ E00279694 , E00317887 ]), [ China,] Fa-Ping-Pee, Yang-Pi.

Amorphophallus rivierei Durieu ex Carrière (1871) 573. — Type: Collection unknown (in cult.), [ France,] Paris , Jardin de Luxembourg (orig. col. [ Vietnam,] Cochinchine).

Amorphophallus nanus H.Li & C.L.Long (1988) 8. — Type: Hen & Long Chun­lin 8804 (holo KUN), [ China,] Yunnan, Gejiu , 15 Apr.1988, syn. nov.

Discussion — Amorphophallus nanus was described from type material from southern China, which is within the accepted range of A. konjac . Amorphophallus nanus was distinguished from A. konjac in having a short peduncle and paler (purple) spathe. Amorphophallus konjac is one of the most widely cultivated species of Amorphophallus , with a plethora of agricultural and horticultural uses ( Gao et al. 2022). As a result, at least a dozen cultivars of A. konjac exist in cultivation, which has made parsing the natural morphological variation of this species a challenge to systematists. Amorphophallus nanus is indistinguishable from several short-peduncled cultivars of A. konjac , specifically A. konjac ‘Pinto’ (AGA-2450) and A. konjac ‘Dwarf’ (AGA-1408), supporting its taxonomic reclassification as a synonym and perhaps a short-peduncled ecotype of A. konjac .