ALOCASIA MINUSCULA
ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION:
Ab Alocasia beccarii lamina folii tenuiora, venis striatis, venis primariis duplo numerosis, sylvam palustrem incolenti differt.
TYPUS: Borneo, Sarawak, Betong Distr., Saribas Forest Reserve, 14 Aug 1957, J.A.R. Anderson 8364 (L, holo; BO, K, iso);
SYNONYMS: N/A
DISTRIBUTION: Indonesia; Borneo; Sarawak
CLIMATE: Tropical humid climate
Humidity is moderate throughout the year, ranging from 60% to 70%
Temperature is varies between the seasons - within the range of 48°F/9°C to 88°F/31°C during the day. Minimum temperatures never dip below 45°F/7°C
Rainy and humid season (October to May) and a dry season between June and October. The average annual rainfall is 1,200 mm
ECOLOGY: Lowland peat swamp-forest
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Diminutive herb 10-20 cm tall; stem suberect, ca. 1 cm diam, condensed, rooting along its length and clothed in old leaf bases and marcescent cataphylls; leaves several to 9 together, interspersed with paperymembranous cataphylls to ca. 5.5 cm long (these occasionally bearing reduced petiole and blade); petiole 5-10 cm long, sheathing in the lower ca. 1/7; blade narrowly ovate to oblanceolate, 8 x 2-13 x 3 cm, peltate, coriaceous, pale abaxially; anterior lobe 7-10.5 cm long, the tip acuminate for ca. 1 cm; anterior costa with 8-10 primary lateral veins on each side, diverging at 60-45° then somewhat up-curved and joining a marginal vein; primary lateral veins much darker than blade abaxially in dry specimens and the majority not visibly reaching the midrib; secondary venation obscure on both sides of the blade, striate, arising from the midrib; posterior lobes almost completely united save for a ca. 2 mm incision at the extreme base of the leaf; combined posterior lobes attenuate, 1-2 cm long
INFLORESCENCE:
Inflorescence solitary, which is quite rare in Alocasia; peduncle about the same length as the petioles at anthesis, later extending somewhat; spathe 3.5-4 cm long; lower spathe narrowly ovoid, 1.5-2 cm long, separated from hmb by a weak constriction; limb ca. 2 cm long, lanceolate, colours unknown; spadix shorter than the spathe, ca. 2 cm long, stipitate for ca. 3 mm, the fertile zones entirely within the lower spathe; female zone 3 mm long; pistils few, ca. 10, bottle-shaped, more or less acroscopic, 1.5 mm long, style ca. 0.5 mm long; stigma small weakly ?3-lobed; sterile interstice ca. 2 mm long, the thickest part of the spadix, ca. 2.5 mm diam.; synandrodia inflated, more or less rhomboid, ca. 2 mm diam.; male zone 5 mm long, subcylindric, 2.2 mm diam.; synandria few, ca. 12, irregular, ca. 1.5 mm diam., more or less 4-merous, mainly composed of loosely adherent thecae, the synconnective not well developed; appendix ca. 6 mm long, 1 mm diam., cylindric; fruiting spathe ca. 1.5 cm diam.; berries red-orange.
VARIEGATED FORMS: N/A
ETYMOLOGY: The specific epithet derives from the fact that this is the smallest presently known species in the genus.
NOTES:
Alocasia minuscula can be readily distinguished from Alocasia beccarii and Alocasia peltata, which it closely resembles, its narrow peltate leaf shape and reduced posterior lobes, and in its diminutive stature, by the distinctive pattern of leaf venation. The primary veins are much more numerous, and characteristically some appear, in the dried state, not to reach the midrib. The secondary venation is obscure on both sides of the blade, but it appears on the abaxial side that the secondary venation arises hardly or not at all from the primary veins, nearly all the secondary veins running directly into the midrib - a condition more usually associated with striate-veined genera such as Schismatoglottis. Moreover, Alocasia minuscula appears restricted to swamp forest, while Alocasia beccarii and Alocasia peltata are hill and montane forest species. The description is based entirely on dried material.
Other specimens seen: SARAWAK: Tuso Peninsula, Anderson 2129 (SING); Sibu, Naman F.R., Anderson 9299 (K, L); Simanggang, Brooke 10764 (L).
CULTIVARS: N/A
HYBRIDS: N/A
