The Arum family (Araceae) consist of terrestrial or aquatic shrubs, vines, or herbs. Amorphophallus is a large genus of some 200 tropical and subtropical tuberous herbaceous plants from the Arum family. 15 Amorphophallus species have been reported from Myanmar, five of which are known to be endemic. 

A local plant enthusiast has recently found an unknown Amorphophallus species, flowering in May and June 2023 in Hpa-an District, Kayin State. He then sent the samples to a researcher in Myanmar. After meticulously examining its morphology and comparing it with protologues and relevant literature, as well as with digitized type specimens of Amorphophallus from across Myanmar and neighbouring countries, researchers from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) and their collaborators confirmed that the collected specimens represent a new species.  

The new species was named as Amorphophallus mirabilis to refer to its eye-catching foliage. It was published in Nordic Journal of Botany.  

Amorphophallus mirabilis is a seasonally dormant herb. It  is morphologically similar to A. dzui from northern Vietnam, but differing by the much longer peduncle, the spathe outside being pale purplish brown, inside basal half pale being maroon and densely clothed with fleshy, irregularly shaped warts, the upper half yellowish green, and entire or transversely bilabiate stigmas.  

Amorphophallus mirabilis is currently only known from its type locality in Hpa-an District, Kayin State, Myanmar, where it was found in the karst limestone forest growing in a crack of a moist sandstone rock under a closed to semi-open canopy of seasonal rain forest or dry evergreen forest, at an elevation of approximately 100 meters above sea level. 

During their on-going work on the taxonomy of the family Araceae in Myanmar, the researchers also newly recorded Amorphophallus napalensis (a tuberous geophytic plant). “This is the first report of the species in Myanmar, representing an important extension of its geographic distribution where it was found growing along the roadside/trail of Mt Victoria in Myanmar,” said Mark Arcebal K. Naive of XTBG. 

With the discovery of the new species and A. napalensis, Myanmar now holds 17 Amorphophallus species. 

Contact 

Mark Arcebal K. Naive     

Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China                   

E-mail: mark@xtbg.ac.cn      

First published: 21 December 2023