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Aspidistra superba

Accepted name Aspidistra superba Tillich. Feddes Repert. 116(5-6): 323 (335, 338; fig. 3i,k). (2005).
Synonyms  
Distribution Vietnam (Ninh Binh)
Description Rhizome: epigeous to nearly hypogeous, diameter 5 - 7 mm.

Leaves: solitary [?] to ca. 40 cm; cataphylls pale brown, soon drying, up to 6 cm long; petiole 15 - 22 cm long; lamina widely lanceolate, 16 - 18 cm long x 5 - 7.5 cm wide, thin, uniformly green, base cuneate, mid-vein adaxially somewhat deepened, abaxially prominent, secondary veins 3 - 4 on each side, between them ca. 9 fine veins.

Peduncle: sometimes 2 - 3 tufted but otherwise undescribed; flowers solitary.

Perianth [Perigone]: depressed globose; tube 12 mm long x 22 mm diameter, outside pale green, finely red mottled, lobes 8 (- 9), narrow lineate with broader base, 20 mm long, patent, red, distally pale or greenish, with basal appendages united to form an iris diaphragm-like narrowing of the perigone opening.

Stamens: 8, positioned at base of tube.

Pistil: table-shaped, ca. 2 mm long; stigma subsessile, disc-shaped, diameter 18 mm, surface red and white with 4 heart-shaped areas in the centre and 16 prominent rays ending in 16 teeth; ovary inconspicuous.

Fruit: undescribed.

Phenology: flowers March - April.

2n = ?

based on Tillich 2005

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last updated 18/02/2008