Dracontium croatii G. H. Zhu

Tuber hemispherical, 8–11 cm diam., 6.5 cm thick, flat above, rounded and whitish to brownish below, 4–30 cm below ground level. Tubercles few, rounded or cylindrically elongated, 0.5–1 cm diam., 1–2.3 cm long, borne around the periphery of tuber. Roots whitish, 2–4 mm diam. Cataphylls 3–5, 5–45 cm long, 3–5 cm wide, dark brown or pinkish, 5–15 cm long above ground. Leaf solitary. Petiole 1.4–3 m long above ground, 2–4.5 cm diam. at mid-point, dark green or brownish green, contrastingly mottled with dirty-white or pale green blotches and forming a reptilian pattern, usually smooth in upper half and with irregular protuberances in lower half. Juvenile blade sagittate, or sagittately lobed. Adult blade spreading horizontally, 1–1.5 m diam., thinly coriaceous, rarely fenestrate, never variegated, without raphide cells or dark markings with abundant raphide cells, semiglossy and dark green above matte and medium green above, semiglossy and medium green below or matte and medium green below; middle division twice trichotomously branched, 0.8–1 cm long, 0.5–0.8 cm wide, with terminal subdivision consisting of three sections, with each basal subdivision consisting of many segments; lateral divisions twice dichotomously branched, 0.8–0.95 cm long, 0.5–0.8 cm wide, with terminal subdivision consisting of two sections, with basal subdivision consisting of many segments; terminal and subterminal sections confluent, each consisting of many segments; broadly oblanceolate, more than 5 cm wide on each side of the major ribs, oblanceolate, mostly confluent with each other in each division or at least some of the basal segments not confluent with each other, often with contrastingly smaller rounded or triangular segments alternating with larger segments; apices acuminate, or acute (rarely); ultimate segments 20 cm long, confluent with penultimate segments; other segments 3.5–15 cm long; penultimate segments confluent with the subterminal sections; medial segments confluent with the basal subdivisions; basal segments present, free from each other or confluent with each other (rarely); rachises patterned similar to petiole but in much paler shades, with irregular protuberances; tertiary veins prominent above and conspicuous above. Bracteoles 3–4, 20 cm long, 2–4 cm wide, light brown or dark brown, the longest one much shorter than the peduncle, confined at the base of the peduncle. Inflorescence solitary, appearing before new leaf. Peduncle 80–120 cm long above ground, 1.3–3.5 cm diam. at mid-point, more than half as long as the petiole, mottled similar to petiole but deeper in color, brownish green, with irregular protuberances in lower half and spiny projections. Spathe 23–50 cm long, 8–15 cm wide, cymbiform, cucullate, erect or slightly arching, apex obtuse; inner surface velvety, maroon and solid greenish white (4–6 cm along the margin), with translucent area obvious, 3–7 cm high, 1.5–3 time longer than spadix; outer surface dark yellowish green, matte; margins entire, broadly overlapping in the lower two-thirds; veins obscure inside, conspicuously darker or paler than the spathe, purple and pale green (on lower half). Spadix hidden, sessile, cylindrical, narrower at apex, purple, 1.8–6.5 cm long, 0.7–1.5 cm diam. at anthesis, never with appendages at apex. Flower tepals (6-)7–8(-9), 1.8–2.2 mm long, 1–2 mm wide, brownish purple or dark purple. Stamens 6–9; filaments 1.5–2 mm long; anthers 1–1.5 mm long, hidden or slightly exserted. Ovary bilocular, pale green; stigma 2-lobed, or 3-lobed (rarely); style 1–1.2 mm long above tepals, purple, persistent. Infructescence with spadix 6–12 cm long, 3.4–5 cm diam. in fruit. Berries 1–1.8 cm diam., globose, apically rounded; young berry light green; mature berry orange, with or without some reddish dots or raphide cells. Seeds 2-seeded, 0.8–1 cm diam., rounded, reddish brown, laterally depressed; dorsal ridges obvious, more than 3, strongly interrupted, monomorphic, more than 1 mm thick, 1–2 mm high, smooth on both sides.

Dracontium croatii is known only from the western slopes of the Andes in Ecuador; it may also occur in adjacent areas in Colombia. It occurs in pretropical montane moist forest and tropical montane moist forest life zones, at elevations of 450--1000 m. Flowering occurs from November to February; mature fruits from February to July. Local names: 'papayuNla' (Ecuador: Carchi). Dracontium croatii does not appear to be particularly close to any member of the genus. It is readily distinguished by its showy greenish spathe, matte upper leaf-blade surface, and rounded mature fruits and seeds. It has the largest seeds (to 1 cm diam. and 0.5 cm thick) in the genus.