1. Epipremnum ceramense (Engl. & K. Krause) Alderw.

Epipremnum ceramense (Engl. & K. Krause) Alderw., Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg III, 1 (1920) 376. -- Scindapsus ceramensis Engl. & K. Krause in Engl., Pflanzenr. 37 (IV.23B) (1908) 70. -- Type: Indonesia, Maluku, Pulau Seram, Wahai, cultivated Bogor Botanic Garden, Canarienallee 5, Feb. 1906, Engler 4004 (B holo). Epipremnum ceramense (Engl. & K. Krause) Alderw. var. flavispathum Alderw., Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenzorg III, 1 (1920) 376. -- Type: of unknown origin, cultivated Bogor Botanic Garden, July 1919, Alderwerelt 325 (BO holo).

Gigantic root-climber to 10 m. Adult plant with stem 20--30 mm diam., internodes 1.5--18 cm long, separated by prominent paler leaf scars. Foraging stems to 5 m or more, 6--8 mm diam., internodes 15--18 cm long. Clasping roots sparse, feeding roots very long, hanging free or adhering to climbing substrate and eventually reaching the ground. Cataphylls and prophylls soon drying and falling. Foliage leaves evenly distributed, lower leaves falling and thus leaves tending to become clustered distally. Petiole 35--70 cm x 15--20 mm, canaliculate, smooth, air-drying orange- to dark-brown; apical geniculum 3.5--5 x 2--5 mm, basal geniculum 3--5 x 1--2 cm, both genicula greater in diameter than petiole, drying shrunken to less than petiole diameter and almost black; petiolar sheath extending to base of the apical geniculum, at first sub-membranaceous, soon drying scarious with a tough hyaline margin, later disintegrating in irregular blocks and then partially to completely falling to leave a smooth scar. Lamina 50--90 x 20--48 cm, entire, elliptic- to ovate-oblong, sub-coriaceous to coriaceous, apex sub-acute, abruptly apiculate, base unequal-rounded to sub-cordate, slightly decurrent, air-drying reddish brown; primary lateral veins simple, 18--20 per side, 2--5 cm distant, diverging from midrib at 60°, interprimary veins numerous, remaining sub-parallel to primary vein, all higher order venation weakly reticulate, tessellate in places, especially towards the lamina margins, barely visible in dried material; midrib impressed above, very prominently raised beneath, lower order venation slightly impressed to almost flush above, prominently raised beneath, interprimary venation flush above, very slightly raised beneath but conspicuous in dried specimens. Lamina 12--18 x 4--6, thinly coriaceous, ovate-oblong, apex acuminate, base subacute; primary lateral veins simple, diverging from midrib at 40°--45°, interprimary veins remaining parallel to primary vein. Inflorescence solitary, subtended by a fully developed foliage leaf with an exceptionally broad petiolar sheath. Peduncle 6--12 cm x 10--30 mm, stout, terete, slightly laterally compressed, tapering basally, pale green. Spathe canoe-shaped, stoutly beaked, up to 36 x 12 cm when pressed flat, exterior green, interior ivory-white to pale yellow at anthesis, air-drying mid-brown to almost black. Spadix 12--34 x 2.5--4.5 cm, sessile, conic-cylindrical, bluntly tapering towards the apex, yellow at anthesis, air-drying mid-brown. Flowers 2--5 mm diam., the uppermost flowers on the spadix sterile and fused into irregular groups; ovary 10--17 x 2--5 mm, cylindrical-ellipsoid, basal part strongly compressed; ovules 2--3; stylar region 2.2--5 x 2--4 mm, trapezoid, robust, apex slightly conical; stigma linear, c. 2 x 0.1--0.5 mm, longitudinal; stamens 4; filaments 5 x 1 mm; anthers narrowly ellipsoid, 3--5 x 0.75--1 mm; Fruit green, ripening orange, stylar region slightly enlarged. Seeds c. 5 x 4.5 mm, often solitary, strongly curved, testa prominently ornamented, pale brown.

Distribution - Indonesia (Maluku).

Habitat - Margins of undisturbed forest on steep hillsides, clayey soil. 45--60 m.

Notes - 1. Merrill (1917: 126) cites Robinson P.R.A. 114, under Scindapsus marantifolius Miq., as representative of ‘Adpendix cuscuaria latifolia’ [Rumphius’ Herbarium Amboinense (1745: 5, 488, t.183, f.1)] a phrase-name later used as the basis of Pothos cuscuaria Gmel. non Aubl., nom. illeg. (= Scindapsus marantiifolius Miq., syns., among others, Aglaonema cuscuaria J.F. Gmel. (Miq.); Scindapsus cuscuaria (J.F. Gmel.) Engl. & K. Krause & Cuscuaria marantiifolia (Miq.) Schott]. However, the Robinson (L!, US!) collection is clearly Epipremnum ceramense.
2. Epipremnum ceramense often aborts all but one ovule per ovary, producing fruits with a sub-basal, massive solitary seed. A specimen in BO! (Beguin 2254: Maluku) is annotated as Scindapsus maclurei (Merr.) Merr. & Metcalf [Thailand, Vietnam, China (Hainan)], on the basis of "1 seeded ovary" and numerous other mis-determinations have occurred. Together with E. falcifolium (which behaves similarly), E. ceramense provides strong evidence to support merging Scindapsus and Epipremnum.
3. Alderwerelt recognized var. flavispathum on the basis of minor differences in leaf dimensions and lamina shape and different inflorescence colour and dimensions. These characters are variable in other Epipremnum species (q.v. especially E. pinnatum) and are insufficient to support even a species-subordinate taxon.
4. De Vogel (3190, L!) notes that the long feeding roots are used for tying out-riggers on canoes on Pulau Halmahera.