Volume 11 > Part 2 > Year 2012 > Page 244 > Araceae > Homalomena
3. Homalomena humilis (Jack) Hook.f.
Fl. Brit. India 6: 533. 1893; Ridl., Mat. Fl. Malay Penins.: 25. 1907; Engl. & Krause in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV, 23Da (Heft 55): 49–50, Fig. 27–28. 1912; Ridl., Fl. Malay Penins. 5: 105. 1925.— Calla humilis Hassk., Syst. Verz.: 76. 1854.— Chamaecladon humile (Jack) Miq., Fl. Ned. Ind. 3: 213. 1856. Plate LXIII: A.
Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.
Synonyms & Citations :
Calla angustifolia Jack, Malayan Misc. 1(1): 24. 1820.— Chamaecladon angustifolium (Jack) Schott, Bonplandia (Hannover) 6(20): 369. 1858.— Homalomena angustifolia (Jack) Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 6: 533. 1893.
Aglaonema pygmaeum Hassk., Tijdschr. Natuurl. Gesch. Physiol. 9: 161. 1842.— Chamaecladon pygmaeum (Hassk.) Engl. in A.DC. & C.DC., Monogr. Phan. 2: 345. 1879.— Homalomena pygmaea (Hassk.) Engl., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 25: 18. 1898.
Aglaonema pygmaeum var. majus Hassk., Syst. Verz.: 76. 1854.— H. humilis var. major (Hassk.) Furtado, Gard. Bull. Straits Settlem. 10: 200. 1939.
Chamaecladon lanceolatum Miq., Bot. Zeitung (Berlin) 14: 564. 1856.
Chamaecladon purpurascens Schott, Bonplandia (Hannover) 6(20): 369. 1858.— Homalomena purpurascens (Schott) Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 6: 535. 1893.— H. pygmaea var. purpurascens (Schott) Engl., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 25: 18. 1898.— H. pumila var. purpurascens (Schott) Ridl., J. Straits Branch Roy. Asiat. Soc. 44: 176. 1906.
Chamaecladon pygmaeum var. latifolium Engl., Malesia 1: 283. 1882.— Homalomena pumila var. latifolia (Engl.) Ridl., J. Straits Branch Roy. Asiat. Soc. 44: 177. 1905.— H. pygmaea var. latifolia (Engl.) Engl. in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV, 23Da (Heft 55): 36. 1912.
Homalomena pumila Hook.f. Fl. Brit. India 6: 533. 1893.— H. humilis var. pumila (Hook.f.) Furtado Gard. Bull. Straits Settlem. 10: 203. 1939.
Homalomena velutina Scort. ex Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 6: 534. 1893.— Homalomena humilis var. velutina (Scort. ex Hook.f.) Ridl., Materials Fl. Mal. Peninsular 3: 25. 1907.
Homalomena propinqua Ridl., J. Bot. 40: 35. 1902, nom. illeg.
Homalomena undulatifolia Ridl., J. Straits Branch Roy. Asiat. Soc. 57: 111. 1911.
Homalomena angustifolia var. ophirensis Ridl. ex Engl. in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV, 23Da (Heft 55): 31. 1912.— H. humilis var. ophirensis (Ridl. ex Engl.) Furtado, Gard. Bull. Straits Settlem. 10: 203. 1939.
Homalomena pygmaea var. pumila Engl.in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV, 23Da (Heft 55): 36. 1912.
Homalomena johorensis Engl. in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV, 23Da (Heft 55): 37. 1912.
Homalomena pusilla Alderw. Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, III, 4: 175. 1922.
Homalomena coccinea Alderw. Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, III, 4: 180. 1922.— H. humilis var. major subvar. coccinea (Alderw.) Furtado, Gard. Bull. Straits Settlem. 10: 201. 1939.
Homalomena rubrovaginata Alderw., Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, III, 4: 331. 1922.
Homalomena rubrovaginata var. subpurpurea Alderw., Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, III, 4: 332. 1922.
Homalomena pygmaea f. Longipes Alderw., Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg, III, 4: 333. 1922.
Homalomena humilis var. undulata Ridl. Fl. Malay Penins. 5: 105. 1925.
Homalomena repens Ridl., Fl. Malay Penins. 5: 106. 1925.
Homalomena humilis var. parvula Ridl., Fl. Malay Penins. 5: 109. 1925.
Homalomena ellipticifolia Furtado, Gard. Bull. Straits Settlem. 10: 193. 1939.
Homalomena humilis var. ovatifolia M.Hotta, Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 22: 153. 1967.
Description : Very small to small, clump-forming evergreen, very slightly aromatic, lithophytic (in Thailand obligately so, elsewhere not) herb to 25 cm but usually very much smaller. Stem erect, older plants creeping, 0.5–1 cm thick. Leaves many together; petioles 5–11(–15) cm, green or pinkish-tinged or deep purple, refractive; petiolar sheath 1–4 cm, margins membranous; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate to ovate-elliptic or ovate-lanceolate, 6–12 cm by 3.5–5 cm, base rounded to very slightly cordate, apex rounded, minutely apiculate, with a 1–2 mm tubular mucro, softly coriaceous and frequently with a velvety appearance owing to refractive cells (not pubescence), green or pinkish-tinged or deep purple; primary lateral veins 4–6 diverging; interprimary veins much finer, striate; secondary venation almost invisible. Inflorescences 1–6 together; peduncle 2–5(–7) cm, green or pinkish-tinged or deep purple; spathe ovoid-lanceolate, 1–2.2 by 0.5 cm, apex rostrate, ca 2 mm long, gaping at anthesis and then soon closing, green or pinkish-tinged or deep purple, persistent late into fruit development; spadix tapering-cylindrical, ca 2.2 by 0.5 cm, equalling spathe, stipitate; stipe ca 2 mm long; pistillate flower zone ca 4 by 2 mm; ovary ovoid-globose, ca 1 mm diam., with an associated clavate staminode ca ⅓ height of the ovary; style short; stigma capitate, ovary pale green to purple, staminode white; staminate flower zone ca 1.3 cm by 3 mm; staminate flowers ca 0.75 mm diam., each with two stamens, connective very briefly rostrate, white. Fruits globose, ca 1.5 mm diam., stigma capitate, ca 0.3 mm, fruit ripening greenish white.
Thailand : PENINSULAR: Ranong, Trang, Songkhla, Narathiwat.
Distribution : Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo.
Ecology : Lithophytic on rocks in lowland evergreen forests; on limestone or granite.
Vernacular : Ya din (ยาดิน)(Trang).
Notes: Homalomena humilis is distinctive by the refractive nature of the leaf blade, giving the appearance of the plant being minutely pubescent. Plant colour is very variable, with individuals in a population ranging from bright green to deep purple red. Green plants tend to have green inflorescences, although not exclusively so; whereas purple plants always have purple inflorescences. In Thailand H. humilis is always lithophytic.
