Flora of North America species comparison

erect or ascending, deeply buried, internodes 0.2-1.5 cm.

blade almost always variegate with white or silver along veins, cordate to cordate-reniform, 4-14 × 3-12 cm, apex acute to broadly acuminate, rarely obtuse;

surfaces abaxially sparsely hirsute, adaxially glabrous or sparsely hirsute along veins, marginal hairs ± perpendicular to margin.

blade unlobed, margins entire.

terminal or axillary, racemes or solitary flowers, rarely fan-shaped cymes.

erect or nearly so;

peduncle 1.2-1.

bisexual;

calyx enlarged, petaloid, usually tubular, [1-,] 3-, [6-, rarely 5-]merous, lobes valvate;

corolla usually reduced to scales or absent;

stamens 5, 6, or 12 [multiples of 3 or 5], free or adnate to styles and stigmas, forming gynostemium;

anthers extrorse;

pistil 1, 4-6-carpellate;

ovary inferior, partly inferior, or superior;

placentation axile (and ovaries 4-6-locular) or parietal;

ovules many per locule, anatropous.

tube subglobose, externally mottled red, sparsely to moderately hirsute, internally dark red, with purple hairs;

distal portion of sepal erect or spreading at anthesis, 17-52 mm, apex filiform-attenuate, abaxially pale green, hirsute, adaxially tan or brownish green, rarely red proximally, puberulent with crisped purple hairs;

pollen sacs 0.8-2.4 mm, sterile tip of connective on inner stamens dark red-brown, 1.2-3.8 mm, longer than pollen sacs.

capsules [follicles], regularly to irregularly loculicidal, rarely indehiscent [septicidal].

often flattened;

endosperm copious.

with broad medullary rays.