Tab. 7349. 

 AMORPHOPHALLUS Elltotii. 



Native of Sierra Leone. 



Nat. Ord. Aroide^e. — Tribe PythoniejE. 

 Genu* Amorphophallus, Blume ; (JBenth. & Hook.f. Gen. PL vol. iii. p. 970.) 



Amorphophallus (Podopballus) Elliotii; tubere globoso depresso, petiolo 

 elato, laminae amplae trisectse segmentis pinnatisectia lineari-lanceolatia 

 acuminatis, spathas longe pedunculate tubo latissimo doliiforme cylin- 

 draceo vix longiore quam lato baai truncato profunde intruso et in conum 

 eulcatum spadicem fulcientem producto, lamina tubo continua eo asqui- 

 longa galeata acuta ore valde contracto marginibus incurvis, spadice 

 inclusa longiuscule stipitata, inflorescentia mascula conoidea basi 

 verticilla dua ovariorum gerente, appendice stipitato erecto conoideo 

 obtuso, antheris parvis biporosis, ovariis obovoideia apice contractia 

 stigmate minuto coronatis. 



The genus Amoiyhophallus presents many and great 

 differences in the form of the spathe and spadix, and in 

 the arrangements of the organs of the latter, and espe- 

 cially in the structure of the ovary. In all these respects 

 A. Elliotii differs very much from its congeners. In no 

 species that I know of is the aperture of the spathe so 

 contracted ; in none is the base of the tube so intruded 

 as to present within a cone at the base of the spadix, or is 

 the spadix raised on so long a stipes, or are the ovaries con- 

 fined to two whorls at the base of the males, nor does any 

 present a single-celled ovary, or a punctiform stigma. It 

 may well be asked whether modifications so many, and 

 that of the ovary so important are not, if taken to- 

 gether, of generic value. Having regard to the variations 

 in the structure of other species, and the great proba- 

 bility of still further modifications being found in as yet 

 undiscovered species, I do not think it would be expedient, 

 at present, at any rate, to create a genus for A. Elliotii, and 

 I have therefore restricted myself to proposing a section 

 from it, with the name of Podophallus, in allusion to the 

 stipitate spadix and appendix. 



A. Elliotii was discovered in forests of Sierra Leone by 

 Mr. Gr. F. Scott Elliot, Botanist to the Sierra Leone 



Apbil 1st, 1894. 



