Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Erect herbs 1.5–5 m tall.

Stems:

Roots: Fibrous root system.

Leaves: Leaves simple. Alternate. Blades narrowly elliptic, 45–80 cm long, 4.5–16 cm wide, plicate with 7–13 pleats, with auricles up to ca. 10–40 mm long. Base cuneate. Surfaces with scattered bristles; lower surfaces also sparsely to moderately pubescent. Margins entire. Veins parallel. Sheathing. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers in pyramidal, 3–5–branched panicles 10–40 cm long, bracts of branches triangular, membranous, caducous, bracteoles triangular to subulate, much smaller than bracts. Flowers relatively small and inconspicuous, bisexual (perfect), actinomorphic. Tepals as long as to twice as long as wide, usually splitting with age, outer Tepals ovate to orbicular–ovate, 1.7–4 mm long, 1.4–2.2 mm wide, with a central vein and rarely 1–2 inconspicuous lateral veins, apex mucronate and sometimes reflexed, inner Tepals orbicular–ovate, 1.8–3.5 mm long, 1.6–2.6 mm wide, apex truncate, sometimes becoming retuse with age. Stamens 6, distinct; anthers dithecal, opening by longitudinal slits, sagittate. Ovary superior, 3-carpellate, with as many cells, placentation axile; ovules 1 per cell, pendulous, orthotropous; styles 3, terminal, distinct or connate at base; stigmas plumose.

Fruit: Fruit 3.3–5.8 mm in diameter; styles not persistent on fruit.

Ploidy:

Habitat: Rare; occurring as widely separated individuals or small populations on ridges; in wet forest; and along intermittent streams.

Elevation Range: 300–1,250 m.