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BLUMEA 44 (1999) 37-39 A newvariety of Arisaema ciliatum (Araceae) E.J.Gouda& G. Gusman INTRODUCTION InSeptember 1981,seedsofArisaemawereharvestedby Carla Teune, Hortus Botani- cus Leiden, nearLiuba,areaofMtMinyaKonka(Gonga Shan),Szechuan (Sichuan) Province, China,at3600m altitude.During thetrip,withRoy Lancasterandothers, no pressed herbariumspecimen was collected. MichaelHoog, who runned a well knownDutch Nursery, was given five lotsofseed numberedCT 368 to CT372, all provisionally labeledA. consanguineum Schott.Allnumberswere collectedthesame dayalong thesamepath.Aftertheseedlings flowered,itappeared therewas noreason tokeep them separate;they weremerged and distributedinthe tradeasArisaemaCT 369(AntoineHoog, 1998,private communication). Thefollowing Latindescription ofA. ciliatumH. Li var. liubaensevar. nov. corre- sponds to specimens widespread incultureas Arisaema CT 369.As wellknown,the nameofA. ciliatumH.Li referstothepresenceofsomeciliaalong the mouthofthe spathe-tube (Fig. 1).Thespadix isapically softlyspiny andafewneutersare ingeneral present atthebaseofthe appendage. The colourof thespathe is described by Li as “purple with light greenconspicuous stripes” (Wu &Li, 1979), butin the wildthe prevailing colourofthe spathe variesfrom red to greenand, moreover, the species showeditself latertobe stoloniferous.Arisaema CT 369 also shares this character withA. ciliatumand not withA. consanguineutn (which does not develop stolons). Thelinkmadepreviously betweenArisaemaCT 369andA.consanguineutn hastobe discarded.ArisaemaCT369fallsintotherangeofA. ciliatum.Nevertheless,Arisaema CT 369is easilydifferentiatedfromthetypical A. ciliatumassomereliabledifferences are visiblein the spathe. The main differenceis found along themarginofthetube mouth:inArisaemaCT369,theciliaofthetypical species arelackingalong themarginofthetube mouthevenifthismargin is not perfectly smooth,thespadix-appendix is moreexserted fromthetubeanditsextremityis not spiny (Fig. 2,3).As opposed to thetypical species, one canaddthatthecolourofthe spathe isinvariably purple with greenish white longitudinal stripes. Up to now, no seedlings with a greenish spathe havebeen observed. Thesecharacters are stableand CarlaTeune’s specimens come true fromseed. Arisaemaciliatumwas originally described fromYunnan butit appeared later to be also distributedin Sichuan, as seen by oneofthe authors (G. Gusman). On the otherhand,specimens identicaltoCarlaTeune'sCT 369havebeenobservedinYunnan, near Heishui (G. Gusman). Accordingly, distributions ofA. ciliatumand its var. liubaenseoverlap, afactthatjustifies thechoiceofa varietal status. 1) University Botanic Gardens,P.O.Box 80.162,3508TDUtrecht,The Netherlands. 2) Universite Libre de Bruxelles,Belgium. 38 BLUMEA Vol. 44, No. 1, 1999 Fig. 1.Inflorescence ofArisaema ciliatum H. Li. One notices the presence ofcilia along the margin and the spiny spadix- appendixat apex. Fig. 2.Inflorescence ofatypical Arisaema ciliatum H. Li var. liubaense Gusman & Fig. 3. Close-up ofmale and female spa- Gouda grownfrom theCT369 seedcollec- dices ofArisaema ciliatum H.Li var.liu- tion from Sichuan. baense Gusman & Gouda. E.J.Gouda & G.Gusman: A new varietyofArisaema ciliatum 39 ArisaemaciliatumH.Li var. liubaenseGusman& Gouda,var. nov. Sect. Sinarisaema—Fig. 2, 3 AbArisaema ciliatumH.Li,spathaefaucemarginenon ciliata,spadicisappendixapice glabraetespathaefauce leviter superans differt.— Typus: Teune369(holoU; iso L), nearLiuba,areaofMtMinyaKonka(GongaShan),Szechuan(Sichuan)Province,China, at 3600 malt., 15-IX-1981. Fromthetypevariety differinginthefollowingcharacters: Spathe notciliate; spadix- appendix moreexserted fromthespathe-tube, glabrous, not echinate. Othermateria! studied:Yunnan,Heishui,alt. 3000m, 1992(Gusman GG92118b,BR). REFERENCE Wu,C.-Y.& H. Li. 1979.Araceae,Lemnaceae.Fl.Reipubl.Pop. Sinicae,Vol. 13,2: 193.