Home | > | List of families | > | Dioscoreaceae | > | Tacca | > | leontopetaloides |
Synonyms: |
Tacca involucrata Schumach. & Thonn. |
Common names: | Arrowroot (English) |
Frequency: | Locally frequent |
Status: | Native |
Description: |
Erect herb up to 2 m tall, with annual leaves and flowers growing from a fleshy tuber. Leaves usually 1-3; petiole erect up to c. 1.5 m tall; lamina compound, up to c. 90 × 60 cm, broadly 3-lobed, the lobes deeply pinnately and sometimes palmately divided into variable secondary lobes. Inflorescence usually 1, rarely 2 on an erect hollow scape, up to 1.7 m tall. Flowers 10-40 in an umbel, pale green to white, yellowish or brown, usually variably tinged purple. The whole inflorescence subtended by an involucre of 4-8 bract up to c. 4 × 3 cm, green with purple margins and numerous more or less pendent floral bracts, filiform, dark purple, up to 25 cm long. Fruit berry-like, globose to ovoid, 2-3 cm long, pendent, green to orange, dark brown when dry, normally only 2-7 flowers per umbel developing fruit. |
Notes: | A unique and unmistakable plant |
Derivation of specific name: | |
Habitat: | In a wide range of habitats, on termite mounds, in rocky places, on sand dunes and beaches, often on sandy soils. |
Altitude range: | Up to 1500 m |
Flowering time: | Dec - Jan |
Worldwide distribution: | Widespread in Subsaharan Africa from Senegal to Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Also in Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius, Seychelles and tropical Asia to the Pacific. |
Mozambique distribution: | N,Z,T,MS |
Growth form(s): | |
Endemic status: | |
Red data list status: | |
Insects associated with this species: | |
Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
Content last updated: | Thursday 27 July 2017 |
Literature: |
Baumann, G. (2005). Photographic Guide to Wildflowers of Malawi Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi Pages 186 - 187. (Includes a picture). Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 112. Strugnell, A.M. (2006). A Checklist of the Spermatophytes of Mount Mulanje, Malawi Scripta Botanica Belgica 34 National Botanic Garden of Belgium Page 179. Wilkin, P. (2009). Dioscoreaceae Flora Zambesiaca 12(2) Pages 138 - 140. in Dioscoreaceae (Includes a picture). |
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