A new variety of Arisaema ciliatum (Araceae)

In September 1981, seeds of Arisaema were harvested by Carla Teune, Hortus Botanicus Leiden, near Liuba, area of Mt Minya Konka (Gonga Shan), Szechuan (Sichuan) Province, China, at 3600 m altitude. During the trip, with Roy Lancaster and others, no pressed herbarium specimen was collected. Michael Hoog, who runned a well known Dutch Nursery, was given five lots of seed numbered CT 368 to CT 372, all provisionally labeled A. consanguineum Schott. All numbers were collected the same day along the same path. After the seedlings flowered, it appeared there was no reason to keep them separate; they were merged and distributed in the trade as Arisaema CT 369 (Antoine Hoog, 1998, private communication). The following Latin description of A. ciliatum H. Li var. liubaense var. nov. corresponds to specimens widespread in culture as Arisaema CT 369. As well known, the name of A. ciliatum H. Li refers to the presence of some cilia along the mouth of the spathe-tube (Fig. 1). The spadix is apically softly spiny and a few neuters are in general present at the base of the appendage. The colour of the spathe is described by Li as “purple with light green conspicuous stripes” (Wu & Li, 1979), but in the wild the prevailing colour of the spathe varies from red to green and, moreover, the species showed itself later to be stoloniferous. Arisaema CT 369 also shares this character with A. ciliatum and not with A. consanguineutn (which does not develop stolons). The link made previously between Arisaema CT 369 and A. consanguineutn has to be discarded. Arisaema CT 369 falls into the range of A. ciliatum. Nevertheless, Arisaema CT 369 is easily differentiated from the typical A. ciliatum as some reliable differences are visible in the spathe. The main difference is found along the margin of the tube mouth: in Arisaema CT 369, the cilia of the typical species are lacking along the margin of the tube mouth even if this margin is not perfectly smooth, the spadix-appendix is more exserted from the tube and its extremity is not spiny (Fig. 2,3). As opposed to the typical species, one can add that the colour of the spathe is invariably purple with greenish white longitudinal stripes. Up to now, no seedlings with a greenish spathe have been observed. These characters are stable and Carla Teune’s specimens come true from seed.