| Description |
Rhizome
tuberous. Pseudostems dark purple, 1.5 - 2.4 m. Petiole purple spotted, deep
purple at base, purple-red at margin, to 1 m., slender, margin narrow, open ca. 1.5cm.
wide ; leaf blade adaxially deep green, abaxially yellow-green, ovate-oblong, ca. 2 m. x
50 cm., midvein pink striped, base obliquely asymmetric, apex obtuse. Inflorescence
erect, ca. 40 x 2.5 - 4 cm. ; rachis brown villous. Bracts pink, lanceolate.
Flowers 5 or 6 per bract, in 1 row. Compound tepal golden yellow, apex of outer
lobes with a hook-like appendage ; free tepal yellow, much shorter than compound tepal,
membranous. Infructescence erect, often with 6 - 9 fruit clusters. Berries 5
or 6 per cluster, reddish, cylindric, slightly curved, ca. 7 x 2.5 - 3 cm., base
attenuate, apex truncate. Seeds numerous, brownish, depressed, ca. 5 mm. in diam.,
irregularly angled, tuberculate. 2n = 22. (Wu & Kress 2000).
Habit of M. coccinea. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, 1½ - 2 ft. long, 6 - 9
in. broad at the middle, acute, deltoid at the base ; petiole slender, a foot long.
Peduncle and panicle erect, the latter at first dense, the fruiting part finally ½ - 1
ft. long ; nodes very numerous and crowded ; bracts bright red, glabrous ; lower sterile,
lanceolate, a foot long ; upper oblong, 3 - 4 in. long. Calyx yellow, an inch long,
5-toothed at the tip ; petal lanceolate, half as long as the calyx. Fruits in 3 - 4
clusters of 3 - 4 each, cylindrical, glabrous, dry, 1½ - 2 in. long, ½ in. diam.,
narrowed to the base in a distinct short stipe. Seeds smooth, dull brown, 1/6 in. diam. [
] Differs from M. coccinea by its short petal.
(Baker
1893).
Habit
: Similar to M. coccinea of section Callimusa. Leaves : Green, oblong to
lanceolate. Peduncle : Erect, 5 - 10 cm long. Bunch : Erect, 20 - 25 cm long,
3 - 4 hands. Male axis : Erect, 30 - 35 cm long, predominant (sic) bract scars.
Male bud : Bright red or crimson red in colour, smooth, lanceolate. Compound
tepal : Yellow, 2.0 - 2.5 cm long, 3 + 2, lobes are yellow. Free tepal : Lanceolate,
opaque white, half the length as that of compund tepal. Fruit : 3 - 4 fingers per
hand, 3 - 4 cm long, smooth, tapering towards the base, tip is short but distinct.
Seeds : Smooth and brown. This species differs from M. coccinea by
its short free tepal.
(Singh
et al 2001).
The
description of Singh et al is obviously based on that of Baker but it is not easy to
reconcile those descriptions with that of Wu & Kress! |