''Dracontium'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s similar to those of ''

Amorphophallus ''Amorphophallus'' (from Ancient Greek , "without form, misshapen" + ''phallos'', "penis", referring to the shape of the prominent spadix) is a large genus of some 200 tropical and subtropical tuberous herbaceous plants from the ''Arum'' family ...

''. Unlike ''Amorphophallus'' which is found in the Old World, this genus has a New World distribution and is native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, southern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> ''Dracontium'' species can be distinguished from related genera by their

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

, which is smaller and

unisexual Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

. The plant has a large

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...

similar to that of ''

'', but rounder, and with no central and circular scar mark. When ''Dracontium'' plants begin to flower, the tuber swells and smoothens.Zhu, G. h. & T. B. Croat. 2004. Revision of ''Dracontium'' (Araceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 91(4): 593–667

Species

More than 20 ''Dracontium'' species have been described: * '' Dracontium amazonense'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Venezuela, Peru, northwestern Brazil * ''

Dracontium angustispathum ''Dracontium'' is a genus of flowering plants similar to those of ''Amorphophallus''. Unlike ''Amorphophallus'' which is found in the Old World, this genus has a New World distribution and is native to South America, Central America, southern Mex ...

'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Colombia, Peru * ''

Dracontium asperispathum ''Dracontium'' is a genus of flowering plants similar to those of ''Amorphophallus''. Unlike ''Amorphophallus'' which is found in the Old World, this genus has a New World distribution and is native to South America, Central America, southern Mex ...

'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Colombia, Peru, Ecuador * ''

Dracontium asperum ''Dracontium'' is a genus of flowering plants similar to those of ''Amorphophallus''. Unlike ''Amorphophallus'' which is found in the Old World, this genus has a New World distribution and is native to South America, Central America, southern Mex ...

K. Koch Karl Heinrich Emil Koch (6 June 1809 – 25 May 1879) was a German botanist. He is best known for his botanical explorations in the Caucasus region, including northeast Turkey. Most of his collections have today been lost. He is also known as ...

- Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Trinidad, Windward Islands, Venezuela, Peru, northwestern Brazil, the Guianas * ''

Dracontium bogneri ''Dracontium'' is a genus of flowering plants similar to those of ''Amorphophallus''. Unlike ''Amorphophallus'' which is found in the Old World, this genus has a New World distribution and is native to South America, Central America, southern Mex ...

'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Brazil * '' Dracontium croatii'' G.H.Zhu - Carchi and Pichincha Provinces in Ecuador * '' Dracontium dubium''

Kunth Carl Sigismund Kunth (18 June 1788 – 22 March 1850), also Karl Sigismund Kunth or anglicized as Charles Sigismund Kunth, was a German botanist. He is known for being one of the first to study and categorise plants from the American continents, ...

- Venezuela, Guyana * '' Dracontium gigas'' (

Seem. Berthold Carl Seemann (25 February 1825, in Hanover, Germany – 10 October 1871, in Nicaragua, Central America), was a German botanist. He travelled widely and collected and described plants from the Pacific and South America. In 1844 he trave ...

)

Engl. Engl or Engl. may refer to: *England, a country that is part of the United Kingdom *English *Engl (surname), a German surname *Engl., taxonomic abbreviation for botanist Adolf Engler Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 193 ...

- Nicaragua, Costa Rica * ''

Dracontium grandispathum ''Dracontium'' is a genus of flowering plants similar to those of ''Amorphophallus''. Unlike ''Amorphophallus'' which is found in the Old World, this genus has a New World distribution and is native to South America, Central America, southern Mex ...

'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Ecuador * ''

Dracontium grayumianum ''Dracontium'' is a genus of flowering plants similar to those of ''Amorphophallus''. Unlike ''Amorphophallus'' which is found in the Old World, this genus has a New World distribution and is native to South America, Central America, southern Mex ...

'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Panama, Colombia * ''

Dracontium guianense ''Dracontium'' is a genus of flowering plants similar to those of ''Amorphophallus''. Unlike ''Amorphophallus'' which is found in the Old World, this genus has a New World distribution and is native to South America, Central America, southern Mex ...

'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - French Guiana * '' Dracontium iquitense'' E.C.Morgan & J.A.Sperling - Loreto region of eastern Peru * '' Dracontium longipes'' Engl. - Peru, Acre State of Brazil * '' Dracontium margaretae'' Bogner - Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay * '' Dracontium nivosum'' (

Lem. Charles Antoine Lemaire (1 November 1800, in Paris – 22 June 1871, in Paris), was a French botanist and botanical author, noted for his publications on Cactaceae. Education Born the son of Antoine Charles Lemaire and Marie Jeanne Davio, he ha ...

) G.H.Zhu - Pará, Maranhão * '' Dracontium peruvianum'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Peru, northwestern Brazil * '' Dracontium pittieri'' Engl. - Costa Rica * '' Dracontium plowmanii'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Peru * '' Dracontium polyphyllum'' L. - Pará, French Guiana, Suriname, Venezuela, Peru, Puerto Rico * '' Dracontium prancei'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Amazonas and Roraima States of northwestern Brazil * '' Dracontium purdieanum'' ( Schott) Engl. - Colombia, Venezuela * '' Dracontium soconuscum'' Matuda - Chiapas, Costa Rica, Panama * '' Dracontium spruceanum'' (Schott) G.H.Zhu - Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, northwestern Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Suriname * '' Dracontium ulei'' K.Krause - Acre State in western Brazil; Pando region of northern Bolivia

References

Araceae genera {{Araceae-stub