B. bracteolata

Culture

Endangered Status

Data deficient

Original Botanical Description or Link to

Monoecious, acaulescent, rhizomatous, perennial herb, 50–90 cm tall including inflorescence. Rhizome brown, stout, woody, 10–30 cm long, nodes 5–15 mm, leaf scars prominent, axillary buds growing after leaf fall. Stipules 2 at each node, persistent, asymmetrical, keeled, widely ovate to triangular, rarely obovate, 1.3–4.2 × 2.7–3.4 cm, brownish red, base truncate, apex acute to cuspidate with 5–10 mm long arista, margins entire, abaxially sparsely hairy with brown tomentum, adaxially glabrous. Leaves: petiole 7–28 cm long, angular, slightly grooved, pale green with large reddish blotches, densely tomentose; lamina thick, fleshy, 13–28 × 21–35 cm, green above and pale green to pale pink beneath, suborbicular, base asymmetrically cordate, lower lobe overlapping, apex acute, margin distantly denticulate, upper surface tomentose, lower surface densely tomentose when young, sparsely tomentose when mature, leaves, 7- to 9-veined from base. Inflorescence axillary, bisexual, dichotomously branched at base, 5–6 times branched, protandrous with male flower basal and female flower distal; peduncle 40–85 cm long, angled, slightly grooved, bulging towards the base, reddish to pale green with reddish blotches, with dense white tomentum; primary bracts 2, caducous, pale green, laciniate, c.3.5 cm long, deeply lobed; lobes 3–6, lanceolate to narrowly ovate with short triangular sublobes, apex acuminate, base truncate, margins sparsely strigose; secondary bracts 3–5, caducous, broadly ovate to oblong or elliptic, rarely with narrow lobes, 7–10 × 3–6 mm, apex obtuse to acuminate, margins entire, glabrous. Male flowers: pedicel 1–1.7 cm long, pink with reddish blotches, greenish at the base, sparsely tomentose; tepals 2, orbicular, 1–1.3 × 1.1–1.4 cm, white to pale pink, base and apex rounded, margins entire, abaxial and adaxial surfaces glabrous; androecium symmetrical, stamens 37–49, monadelphous; anthers broadly obovate, 3 mm long, apex rounded, dehiscing through longitudinal slits; filaments c.2 mm long. Female flowers: nodding; bracteoles 2 or 3, caducous when mature, tepal-like, ovate to elliptic, rarely obovate, 11–12 × 6–10 mm, white to pale pink, base truncate, apex obtuse or with 3 small triangular lobes, margins entire; pedicel 9–12 mm long, white to pink with reddish blotches, glabrous; tepals 2, persistent, reniform, 0.9–1 × 1–1.2 cm, white to pale pink, base rounded, apex, rounded, glabrous on both surfaces; ovary white to pale pink, wings 3, equal, 11–32 × 3.5–5 mm, glabrous; locules 3, placentae undivided, axile; styles 3, connate at base, bifid from about half of their height, twisted once slightly at apex, stigmatic papillae a wavy band connecting the two stylar lobes. Fruit a capsule, pendent on slender pedicel, longer than broad, wings 3, equal, c.1.5 × 0.7 cm, pale green to pale pink, dehiscent on both sides of the wings; seeds numerous, oblong in outline, c.0.5 × 0.25 mm.