Amorphophallus urceolatus in habitat
The first time I saw these plants was in 2001, and I remember being struck at how different these were from the stands of Amorphophallus paeoniifolius that were growing at the entrance of the forest, in poor and gravelly soils. These bear strikingly glossy leaflets and smooth petioles that were very much unlike the tuberculated ones in A. paeoniifolius . Their ecology is also very different, preferring more shade and growing amongst leaf litter and humus, often on slopes. Years later, a friend intimated to me that some taxonomists were interested in describing these plants as ' Amorphophallus urceolatus ' a nomen nudum until the species formal description in 2020. The habitat is lowland riverine forest in the province of Laguna on Luzon at about sea level. The banks are flanked by rocks and large boulders. Remnants of felled down trees, likely dipterocarps, still remain. I have been seeing these since the early 2000s and judging by the state of the stumps, I reckon that these...