) : Nuytsia 13(1):243-245(1999) 243 SHORTCOMMUNICATIONS A new species ofTyphonium (Araceae: Areae) fromtheWest Kimberley,WesternAustralia TyphoniumSchott isagenusofabout40speciesofEastAsian andAustralian geophytic,mostly saproentomophilousaroids,thelargestgenusoftheeastern-hemispherictribeAreae. Typhoniumhas been revised recently forAustralia (Hay 1993) and in toto (Sriboonma 1994), with the subsequent additionofthreenewspeciesinAustralia (Hay1996;Hay&Taylor1997). Severalfurthernewspecies arealsocomingtolightinIndochina(Dzu&Croat1997 Hetterscheid,pers.comm.). Herewedescribe ; anothernewAustralianspecies,bringingthetotalforAustraliato 17,ofwhichallbuttwoareendemic. AkeytoAustralian Typhonium,includingthisnewspecies,willappearintheforthcomingtreatment for“FloraofAustralia”(Hay,inprep.). TyphoniumpeltandroidesA.Hay,M.D.Barrett&R.L.Barrett,sp.nov. TyphoniumalismifoliumF. Muell.sens.lat.simulans,sedfoliilaminaelliptica,nervisnumerosissimis striatis, inflorescentiae organis neutris clavulatis differt. Typus: GrevilleaGorgeonBeverleySpringsStation,WestKimberley,WesternAustralia, 16°30'25"S, 125°20'E, 14January 1996,R.L. Barrett& M.D. Barrett700(holo PERTH(+spirit);iso: NSW). mm Deciduousgeophyte cormdepressedglobose,to50 wide;foliageleaves3or4together,arising ; frompartsofeachoftwomodulesofasympodium,thelatermodulesubtendedbyacataphyllc. 7cm long; petiole 15-50 cm long, distinctly sheathing in lower 1/2 (sheath membranous, to 16 cm); leaf bladeovatetonarrowlyovate,alwayssimple,(8-)*14-34x(3—)7—11.7cmobtuseatbase,apexacute toacuminate;midribstronglyprominentabaxiallyinthebasalhalf;primarylateralveins c. 12oneach sideofthemidribdivergingat(20-)30-45degrees,weaklydifferentiatedfromthesecondaryvenation, secondaryvenationinturnratherweaklydifferentiatedfromthetertiary;allveinsarisingfrommidrib mm forming aclosely striate pattern, ultimately running into a well-defined intramarginal vein 2-3 withinthemargin. Inflorescenceamongtheleaves,terminal,precededbyleavesofthemodulebearing itandfollowedbymoreofthenextmodule(thisapparentlysometimesterminatedbyasecondflower in the same year); bloom smelling ofdecaying flesh; peduncle (6-)14-24 cm long, c. 5 mm diam., elevatedc.3-15cmabovesoilsurface. Spathebasegreen,stronglyconstrictedatapex,broadlyoblong, 1.6-2.5 x 1.2-2.7 cm; spathe limb greenish abaxially, entirely deep reddish-purple adaxially (yellowish flesh-coloured atconstriction), ovate, (5—)9—12 x (3-)6-8 cm, recurved andspreading at base. Spadixslightly shorterthan spathe;femalezonec. 7x 10mm; intersticec. (12—>21 x 3.5 mm, with sterileorgans on lower4mm, naked above; male zone c. (1 1—)18 x 7 mm; appendix narrowly conical,sessile,deepreddish-purple,7.5-9.5x 1.0-1.2cm(atwidestpoint),somewhatrecurved,base asymmetric, oblique inprofile. Pistilsc. 50, plagioscopic,obovate, c. 3 x 1.5 mm,ovary unilocular and uniovulate. Sterileorgansfiliform, slightlyclavate at tips, tangledandtwistedin all directions, 8-15 mm long. Maleflowerscream, becomingapricotwith pollen. Fruitingspathebase persistent andenclosingberries,green,c.2.5x2.5cm. Seedsbrown,orbicular,slightlylaterallycompressedwith manylongitudinal furrowsandpits,c. 5 x4.5 mm. (Figure 1 all dimensions in parentheses from a cultivated plant (M.D. Barrett 599). 244 Nuytsia Vol. 13, No. 1 (1999) Figure 1. Typhonium peltandroides A - whole plant, B - leaf, C - base of spathe and spadix. Otherspecimensexamined.WESTERNAUSTRALIA:localityasfortype,R.L.Barrett&M.D.Barrett 340 & 913 (both PERTH); cult. Kings Park & Botanic Garden, ex type locality, M.D. Barrett599 (PERTH). Distribution. KnownonlyfromGrevilleaGorgeintheSynnottRangeon BeverleySpringsStationin the West Kimberley where itis known to occurin small pockets along the gorge. A large group of c. 80plants occursamongstvinethicket below an ephemeral waterfall, whileanotherlargegroupof c. 20plantsgrowsamongstspinifexonshelteredrockledgesnearthetopofthegorge;scatteredplants occuramongst Triodia on shelteredrock ledges on the gorge rim. Habitat. Inshallowsandamongstroughsandstone,eitherinvinethicket(withAIstonialinearisBenth., Diospyrossp.andGeodorumneocaledonicumSchltr.)oramongstTriodiaclumpsonsidesofagorge. Floweringperiod. LateDecembertoJanuary. FruitsmidJanuarytoMarch.Thefloweringspathebase is usually full ofbeetles. Consen’ationstatus. CALM Conservation Codes forWestern AustralianFlora: PriorityOne. Only onepopulation oflessthan 200plantsisknown. Furthersearchesforthis speciesinlikelyhabitatin the adjacent Salvoni Gorge system failed to produce any furtherpopulations. Etymology. The specificepithet alludes totheresemblance ofthe leafvenation to thatofthe North American genus Peltandra (Araceae: Peltandreae), in which the venation is also striate with a pronounced intramarginal vein. The choice ofepithet is unrelated to Croat’s (1998: 66) mistaken assertionthatoneofus(A.H.)thoughtanotherAustralianspeciesofTyphonium T. mirabile(A.Hay) , A. Hay(Tiwi Islands),wasactuallyaspeciesofPeltandra. A. Hay, M.D. Barrett & R.L. Barrett, A new species of Typhonium 245 Affinity. The new speciesisclearlyalliedto T. alistnifolium F. Muell., aspecies which Hay (1993) treatedprovisionallyasaratherwidelycircumscribedcomplexinneedoffurtherresolution.Typhonium alismifolium has a wide distribution from north-eastern Queensland to Central Australia, and has recentlybeenrecorded,asaveryrobustvariant,fromnearOodnadatta,SouthAustralia(Hay,inprep.). InspiteofthewidecircumscriptionofT. alismifolium thenewelementcombineswidegeographical , disjunctionfromthatspecieswithdifferingleafshape(reduced,thoughneverthelessdistinctposterior lobes are always present in T. alismifolium) and, more significantly, highly distinctive striate leaf venation. Thisvenationpatternisuniqueinthegenus(thoughapproachedinthenorth-westAustralian T. liliifoliumF. Muell. whichdiffersqualitatively inits shootarchitecture) and itformstheprincipal basisforrecognizingthenewelementasadiscretespeciessegregatedfromthatcomplex. Inflorescence structureissimilartothatofT. alismifolium inthe morewesternpartsofitsrange(sessileappendix), but the neuter organs at the base of the sterile zone are slightly clavate in T. peltandroides, and apparently not so in T. alismifolium. Acknowledgements A.H. thanksPERTHforthe loan anddonationofcitedspecimenstoNSW. References Croat, T.B. (1998). History and current status of systematic research with Araceae. Aroideana 21: 26-145. Dzu, N.V. & Croat, T.B. (1997). A new species of Typhonium from Vietnam. Aroideana 20: 48-52. Hay, A. (1993). The genus Typhonium (Araceae-Areae) in Australasia. Blumea 37: 345-376. Hay, A. (1996). A new species of Typhonium Schott (Araceae) from the Northern Territory, with notes on the conservation status of two Areae endemic to the Tiwi Islands. Telopea 6: 563-567. Hay, A. (in prep.). Araceae. In; “Flora of Australia." Vol. 39. (ABRS/CSIRO: Melbourne.) Hay, A. &Taylor, S.M. (1997). Twonew speciesandanewcombination in Australian Typhonium (AraceaetribeAreae). Edinburgh Journal of Botany 54: 329-336. Sriboonma, D., MurataJ. & Iwatsuki, K. (1994). A revision ofTyphonium (Araceae). Journalofthe Facultyof Science, University of Tokyo, sect. Ill, 15: 255-314. A.Hay Royal BotanicGardens Sydney, Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney, New South Wales 2000. M.D.Barrett KingsParkandBotanicGarden,FraserAve,WestPerth,WesternAustralia6005. R.L.Barrett KingsParkandBotanicGarden,FraserAve,WestPerth,WesternAustralia6005.