Volume 9 > Part 2 > Year 2008 > Page 135 > Marantaceae > Schumannianthus

Schumannianthus dichotomus (Roxb.) Gagnep.wfo-0000533246

Bull. Soc. Bot. France 51: 176. 1904; in Lecomte, Fl. Indo-Chine 6: 122. 1932; Holttum, Gard. Bull. Singapore 13: 272–273. 1951.— Phrynium dichotomum Roxb., Asiat. Res. 11: 324. 1810, (excl. syn.). Fig. 2: E–G; Plate XIII: 2.

Accepted Name : Schumannianthus benthamianus (Kuntze) Veldkamp & I.M.Turner
Kew Bull. 71(3)-47: 2. 2016.

Description : Widely branched plant, up to 2.5 m high. Sheath 5.3–12.5 cm long; pulvinus 0.4–1.0 cm long, green, glabrous; lamina elliptic to broadly elliptic 5.8–14.0 by 2.8–6.7 cm, glabrous, acute at the apex, broadly cuneate at the base, dark green above, pale below. Inflorescence simple or sometimes with one branch near base, up to 38 cm long; basal internodes very long (3.5–)6.0–8.2 cm, the others subequal 1.2–1.8 cm long, nodes thick, hairy, each with a green, papery, curled bract forming a tube around the axis, 2.8–4.1 cm long; prophylls 1.7–2.0 cm long, subtending either a prophyllate branch or a special paraclade with 1 flower-pair; primary axis of special paraclades 1.7–2.6 cm long, enlarged in the fruiting stage; pedicel of the individual flower 1.5–2.0 mm long, associated bracteole persistent, 2.2–2.5 mm long, fleshy. Flowers white, 4.9–5.0 cm long; sepals 3, one free almost to the base, 10.0–10.2 mm long, the others joined to the staminodal tube, narrow, ca 5.0 by 0.6 mm, white; petal lobes narrowly oblong, rounded to acute at apex, 2.6–3.0 cm long, white; staminodal tube ca 2.6 cm long; outer staminodes 2, their petaloid lobes large, subequal, obovate, 1.6–2.0 by 1.3–1.8 cm, white; cucullate staminode with free part of ca 6.3 by 2.5 mm, pale yellow at the tip, appendage ca 2.5 mm long; callose staminode bilobed, with free part of ca 1.2 by 0.7 cm, white; fertile stamen ca 2.4 mm long, petaloid appendage spathulate, ca 3.2 by 1.8 mm; style with free part of ca 6.8 mm long; ovary ca 1.2 mm long, sparsely hairy. Fruits trigonous, obpyramidal, dehiscent, ca 1.5 by 2.1 cm, yellowish-green, glabrous. Seeds 2–3, globose ca 7 mm in diam., with a large conical aril.

Thailand : Throughout the country.

Distribution : Burma, Indochina, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo.

Ecology : Usually forming thickets in lowland exposed swampy areas by ponds or rivers.

Vernacular : Yhang (แหย่ง)(Northern); kan phra (ก้านพร้า)(Central); bu-mae-chi cha-ai (บูแมจี่จ๊ะไอย์)(Malay-Pattani); khla (คล้า).

Uses: Root used to cure neuritis (Chiang Mai); drops of water collected in the flower in the morning are used to cure some corneal problems (Phangnga); stem used to weave mats and used together with Nypa palm leaves for making roofs. Occasionally used for ornamental purposes.

Notes: The habit of Schumannianthus dichotomus is very similar to that of Donax canniformis in having many aerial branches of the stems. But the species is easily distinguished by its smaller leaves, larger flowers and dehiscent fruits.