Flora of North America species comparison

horizontal, brownish, thick, praemorse, fleshy.

short, stout, praemorse.

1–3, round in cross section, 0.8–2.5 dm, slender to stout, glabrous.

1–2, semidecumbent, decumbent, or weakly erect (especially in cultivation), S-shaped, round in cross section, 0.6–1.8 dm, glabrous.

held well above ground, sessile;

blade green to bluish green, strongly to sparsely mottled, mottling becoming obscure with age, oval to suborbicular, 4–10 × 2–8 cm, base broadly attached, apex rounded-acuminate to bluntly parallel sided-acuminate (rounded basally to its broad attachment).

resting on or near ground surface, horizontally spreading, sessile;

blade strongly mottled on each side of central light green stripe in shades of light green, dark green, bronze green, and dark purple, mottling becoming obscure with age, ovate to elliptic, rounded-tapered ± equally from base to tip from widest point, 5–12 × 6–10 cm, apex rounded or weakly acute.

erect, odor pungent, spicy;

sepals displayed above bracts, spreading, green, variously streaked with maroon, lanceolate-oblanceolate, 9–35 × 4–8 mm, margins entire, apex rounded-acuminate;

petals long-lasting, erect, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, maroon, brownish maroon, green, or yellowish green, not spirally twisted, oblanceolate to elliptic, occasionally almost orbicular, 1.7–3.5 × 0.7–2 cm, thick-textured, narrowed near basal attachment (but not truly clawed), margins entire, apex gradually rounded-tapered to acute;

stamens straight, 10–23 mm;

filaments red-purple, 2–5 mm, dilated basally;

anthers erect, straight, gray-purple, 9–16 mm, thick, dehiscence introrse;

connectives purplish brown, straight, projecting 2–5+ mm beyond anther sacs;

ovary greenish white basally, purple distally, ovoid to globose, 6-angled, pyramidally narrowed to stigmas, 4–8.5 mm;

stigmas erect, divergent-recurved, distinct, purple, subulate, 1–5 mm, ± fleshy.

borne directly on bracts, odor of putrid meat;

sepals divergent, somewhat recurved, green, maroon streaked, lanceolate, 17–42 × 5–9.5 mm, margins entire, flat, apex rounded-acute;

petals long-lasting, erect, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, dark brownish maroon, greenish purple, or streaked with yellow, usually not spirally twisted, narrowly elliptic-lanceolate to oblanceolate, 2.5–5.5 × 0.6–1 cm, thick-textured, margins entire, ± flat, apex acute;

stamens erect, incurved, 12–20 mm;

filaments ± straight, reddish brown, 1–2 mm, slender;

anthers ± straight, dark purple, 4–20 mm, ± thick, dehiscence introrse;

connectives brown-purple, extending 1–2.5 mm beyond anther sacs, apex acute;

ovary green-purple, ovoid, 6-angled, 5–10 mm;

stigmas erect, divergent-recurved, distinct, linear, 2–4 mm, uniformly thin.

baccate, dark greenish purple, odorless, subglobose, 6-angled, angles somewhat winglike, pulpy, not juicy.

baccate, dark maroon-purple, fragrance unreported, ovoid, 6-winged or -angled apically, 0.7–1 cm, pulpy, moist.

= 10.