by Wilbert Hetterscheid

This is a species from western Africa, with a thick creeping rhizome, a bright green spathe, large stigmas that are almost sessile on the centre of the ovary and with red fruits. The leaflets of A. dalzielii are also very broad. The differences with forms of A. difformis (which goes in collections still under all kind of false names like A. hookeri, A. giganteum etc.) are that A. difformis has the spathe dark maroon or pink or colours in-between, stigmas small, placed in the lower part of the ovary-tip, fruits purple.

In the literature A. dalzielii has often been misidentified as A. welwitschii but that name in fact stands for a form of A. difformis, that was once also known as A. difformis var. welwitschii, which in my opinion is the correct classification/name. In A. difformis var. welwitschii one can see the typical excentrically placed stigma, typical of A. difformis. The main difference is that in var. welwitschii the stigma is almost sessile (not much of a style present). Our clones in Leiden of var. welwitschii also have pink spathes. As in typical A. difformis the berries of var. welwitschii are purple.

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Anchomanes dalzielii N.E. Br.

Anchomanes difformis (Bl.) Engl.

Anchomanes nigritianus Rendle

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