723.000 Amorphophallus Blume ex Decne.

Description of the genus

Acaulescent, tuberous, terrestrial herbs. Leaf usually 1, subtended by basal cataphylls, often spotted; lamina 3-partite, each major segment highly divided ± pinnately or irregularly. Inflorescence produced before the leaves (in ours); peduncle shorter than petiole. Spathe with a convolute basal portion; upper portion ± expanded with undulate margin. Spadix with female flowers at base, male flowers in central portion and with a ± smooth sterile apex. Flowers unisexual, without perianth segments, densely congested. Stamens free or filaments connate in groups of 2-3. Ovary 2(-4)-locular. Berries borne in a cylindric spike.

Worldwide: 196 species in the Old World tropics. 35 native species in Africa.

Malawi: 3 taxa.

Amorphophallus maximus subsp. fischeri

Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
abyssinicus (A. Rich.) N.E. Br. subsp. unyikae (Engl. & Gehrm.) Ittenb.NDescription, Image
impressus Ittenb.S
maximus (Engl.) N.E. Br. subsp. fischeri (Engl.) Ittenb. ex Govaerts & Frodin?Description, Image

Other sources of information about Amorphophallus:

Our websites:

Flora of Caprivi: Amorphophallus
Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Amorphophallus
Flora of Mozambique: Amorphophallus
Flora of Zambia: Amorphophallus
Flora of Zimbabwe: Amorphophallus

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Amorphophallus
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Amorphophallus
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Amorphophallus
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Amorphophallus
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Amorphophallus
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Amorphophallus
JSTOR Plant Science: Amorphophallus
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Amorphophallus
Plants of the World Online: Amorphophallus
Tropicos: Amorphophallus
Wikipedia: Amorphophallus

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2014-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Malawi: Genus page: Amorphophallus.
https://www.malawiflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=301, retrieved 29 March 2024

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