''Tacca integrifolia'', the white batflower, is a species of

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 ...

in the yam family,

Dioscoreaceae Dioscoreaceae () is a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants, with about 715 known species in nine genera. The best-known member of the family is the yam (some species of '' Dioscorea''). The APG system (1998) and APG II system (2003) both ...

, native to tropical and subtropical rainforests of Asia. It was first described by the English botanist

John Bellenden Ker Gawler John Bellenden Ker, originally John Gawler, was an English botanist born about 1764 in Ramridge, Andover, Hampshire and died in June 1842 in the same town. On 5 November 1804 he changed his name to Ker Bellenden, but continued to sign his name a ...

in 1812.

Description

''Tacca integrifolia'' is a herb growing from a thick, cylindrical

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

. The leaf blades are borne on long stems and are oblong-elliptical to oblong-lanceolate, some , with tapering bases and slender pointed tips. The flower scape is about long and is topped with a pair of involucral bracts, broad and erect, white with mauve venation. Among the individual nodding flowers, which are arranged in an umbel, are further long, filiform (thread-like) bracts. The perianth of each flower is tubular and purplish-black, long, with two whorls of three perianth lobes, the outer three narrowly oblong and the inner three broadly obovate. The fruits are fleshy berries some long, and the seeds, which have six longitudinal ridges, have the remains of the perianth lobes still attached.

Distribution and habitat

The species is native to hilly regions of tropical and subtropical Asia. It is known from Pakistan, eastern India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and eastern China. It grows in the understorey of humid rainforests, growing in the leaf litter in shady sites.

Ecology

The

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s are attached to the tube of the perianth in a helmet-like manner and, with the flat-topped stigma lobes, may form an insect trap; a sweet musky odour has been detected from these flowers and this may attract

flies Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

s. After pollination, the scape bends over and the developing fruits rest on the ground. The fleshy fruits are a dull colour with soft jelly-like pulp, and it is possible that the seeds are dispersed by

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

s and other small mammals as they feed on the fruits.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2706691 Dioscoreaceae Root vegetables