6. Amorphophallus.] 132. ARACE.E. 



globose sessile ovaries, styles -5" long purple. Male inflorescence 

 subturbinate about 3" long by 1-2" diam. with pale-yellow anthers. 

 Appendage dark purple rather shapeless or somewhat conoid, sinuately 

 lobed very large. Fruiting spikes 3-4" long with red obovoid berries 

 •5" long, 2-3 -seeded. 



Very common, Chota Nagpur ! Cuttack ! and probaljly throughout the province 

 but apparently always near villages. Often cultivated and doubtfully indigenous. 

 Bandgaon (Ranchi) 'Clarke, wild? Fl. April-June. Fr. Nov, 



Tuber depressed hemispherical 6-10" diam, 



Prain distinguishes a variety Blutnei (Beiig. PL, p. 1109} with large depressed 

 globose harfily warted tubers and appendage subregularly pyramidal which he 

 states is cultivated only and is known as the Bombay Ol, whereas the type is said to 

 have usually much warted tubers and the appendage irregularly amorphous. He 

 believes this to be wild and cultivated in all the provinces (/. e. as distinguished in 

 £e»ff. PL). 



The cultivated tuber is eaten. 



2. A. bulbifer, Blume. Amla-bela, Beng. {fide Boxburgh). 



A somewhat less stout plant than A. campanulatus, the leaf usually 

 less broad and the leaflets obovate or lanceolate, it usually bears 

 when mature a large bulbil above the petiole at the forks of the leaf 

 by which it is easily recognised. Petiole as long as in camjMuulatus, 

 green and pink mottled with black, smooth. Peduncle 0-10", 

 mottled. Spatlie 3-4" long broadly tubular Avith ovate (when un- 

 rolled) cymbiform obtuse limb open at the top, of a beautiful lively 

 pink or flesh colour deepening to scarlet inside the tube and outside 

 faintly mottled greenish pink, Spadix 3-3-5" long, female portion 

 scarlet -5" long, style very short or 0, 2-4-lobed stigma pink, ovule 

 usually 1 only the other usually abortive, Male inflorescence 1-1-25". 

 Appendix rather stout pale flesh-coloured 1-5-4" long. 



A very common forest species in Chota Nagpur ! and probably in all districts. 

 Fl. May- July. 



The dimensions appear rather variable. Moxhurqh states that near Calcutta the 

 leaf attains 4 ft. diam. A specimen collected near tlie Tista River (Darjeeling 

 Distiict) had peduncles 7-8", spathes 7" b,y 2'3" and spadix 5". 



No use appears to be made of the plant. 



7. SAUROMATUM, Schott. 



Tuberous herbs with large solitary (rarely 2) pedatipartite leaves 

 with broad leaflets, appearing after flowering, Spathe shortly 

 peduncled with short cylindric base with connate margins and very 

 long narrow open finally reflexed limb, Spadix sessile nearly as long 

 as the spathe, male and female inflorescence widely distant, short, 

 dense flowered, with a few large clavate scattered neuters close above 

 the female, appendage slender not sharply dift'erentiated at its base 

 .(as in Typhonium). Stamens with compressed connective, cells 2-4 

 with oval pores. Ovary oblong 1 -celled, with 1-4 basal orthotropous 

 ovules, stigma sessile. Berries obpyramidal, 1-2-seeded (1 -seeded, 

 F.B /.). Albumen fleshy. Embryo axile, straight, terete. 



Vascular bundles with unbranched latex-tubes in stem and petiole, 



1. S. guttatum, Schoit. 



Tuber flattened-globose or hemispheric 2-5" diam. Leaves occa- 

 sionally 2, very variable in size, often 2-5 ft. diam. in luxuriant 



8(32 



