e-Flora of Thailand
Volume 11 > Part 2 > Year 2012 > Page 258 > Araceae > Pothos
5. Pothos macrocephalus Scort. ex Hook.f.
Fl. Brit. India 6: 553. 1893; Engl. in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV, 23B (Heft 21): 31. 1905; Ridl., Mat. Fl. Malay Penins.: 49. 1907; Fl. Malay Penins. 5: 128, Fig. 217. 1925; Boyce, Blumea 45: 172. 2000; Boyce & Hay, Telopea 9:476. 2001; Boyce, Thai Forest Bull., Bot. 37: 20. 2009; Plate LXX: D.
Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.
Description : Large, robust, homeophyllous, root-climbing hemiepiphyte to 15 m. Stem (juvenile) to 8 mm diam., weakly angled or subterete in cross-section; stem (mature) 12 mm diam. Leaves dense; petiole broadly winged, oblong to obovate-oblong, 5–14 cm by 5–15 mm, with 4–5 secondary veins per side, base decurrent to clawed, apex truncate, rounded or auriculate; leaf blade ovate to elliptic or lanceolate, 3–18 by 1.5–20.5 cm, with 2–4 intramarginal veins per side, base rounded to cuneate, apex attenuate-mucronate to acute or attenuate, minutely tabulate, leathery. Flowering shoot much abbreviated, arising mostly from the middle to distal leaf axils of fertile shoots, sometimes arising on older leafless parts, bearing a minute prophyll and a few 5–35 mm, sequentially longer cataphylls. Inflorescence solitary; peduncle rather stout, 4–10 cm by 1.5–2 mm, erect, dull orange-yellow; spathe ovate, 2.5–3 by 2–2.5 cm, flat to convex, base cordate, clasping the peduncle, apex slightly raised, acute to subacute with a stout mucro, white, somewhat waxy; spadix stipitate; stipe terete in cross-section, 2.5–4 cm by 2–2.5 mm, erect, straight, pale green; fertile portion ovoid-clavate, 1.25–1.5 by 1–1.5 cm, mid-yellow; flowers ca 1–2 mm diam. Infructescence with 1–5 berries; fruit obclavate to ovoid or ellipsoid, 1–1.75 by 1–1.4 cm, deep green ripening to scarlet, epidermis of upper part of ovary roughened in submature fruits, more or less smooth when ripe.
Thailand : PENINSULAR: Yala, Narathiwat.
Distribution : Peninsular Malaysia (type), Indonesia (Sumatra).
Ecology : Rainforests on rock along streams, moist evergreen forests on moderate slopes. Frequently associated with limestone or granite; 50–300 m alt.
Vernacular : Thao phan dong (เถาพันดง)(Peninsular).
Notes: A large distinctive secondary hemiepiphyte which, for the area under review, has so far been collected only in Yala and Narathiwat provinces of peninsular Thailand where its occurrence is sporadic. The large yellow and white inflorescences are most similar in appearance to those of Pothos gigantipes Buchet ex P.C.Boyce (S Vietnam & Cambodia). However, the form of the mature and juvenile leaves of these species is quite different. Sterile P. macrocephalus can be confused with P. scandens although in the latter the petiole is generally shorter than the leaf blade and overall P. macrocephalus is a more massive plant.