Re: [aroid-l] Furtadoa

From: "Peter Boyce" boyce at pothos.demon.co.uk> on 2003.04.06 at 09:44:52(10086) Hi Chanrit Yes, I'm back and aroiding! If you have found Furtadoa in Thailand the it will be either F. mixta (which is widespread but rather rare in southern peninsular Malaysia) or it will be a new species. Whereabouts did you find the plants? Are the leaves plain green or variegated? F. sumatrana is always cloudy-variegated. +More Furtadoa mixta looks like a large plant (c. 20 cm tall) of Homalomena humilis or H. deltoidea, even in when flower. You will have to dissect an inflorescence to be sure of the genus. In Homalomena subg. Chamaecladon the male flowers are in a uniform mass above the females whereas in Furtadoa each male flower is associated with a prominent pistillode, giving the male portion of the spadix a rather 'bristly' appearance. Oh, yes, you need to dissect an inflorescence just before or just as it opens. The inflorescences only last a day or so and then close and then the peduncle droops. Such post-anthesis inflorescences look fine but on opening you'll find that the critical male portion has rotted or been eaten by the maggots of the flies that visit and pollinate. Another feature of subgen. Chamaecladon is that the species are very variable in the field such that in a small area of forest it's possible to find many different looking leaf types that, on flowering, all prove to be the same species. Looking forward to hearing what you have. Best wishes Peter

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