Tên Khoa học: Aspidistra lubae Aver. et Tillich
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Shoot erect and unbranched (at least in young plants), 3 – 6 cm tall, 5 – 6 mm in diameter, densely nodal, with few thick, rigid, semi-woody, straight prop roots. Cataphylls convolute, triangular cuneate, as young dull reddish – brown, later becoming light yellowish, papyraceous, to 5 cm long, early splitting into fibrous remains. Leaves densely crowded, petiolate. Petiole stiff , erect, straight or inclined, (4)5 – 10 cm long. Leaf blade arching to almost horizontal, elliptic to narrowly elliptic, attenuate at base and at apex, (12)14 – 18(20) cm long, (2.0)2.5 – 4.5(5.0) cm wide, irregularly undulate along margin, dark green above and below, with small, sparse yellowish spots, with prominent midvein on lower surface and insignificant, hardly visible secondary veins. Flowers solitary, arising from apical part of shoot, pedunculate. Peduncle arising horizontally, green, speckled with purple – brown, (1.5)2.0 – 2.5 cm long, 1.5 – 2.0 mm in diameter, with 2 – 3 sterile bracts; bracts oblong ovate, concave, rather thin, papyraceous, light green, speckled with purple-brown markings, obtuse, (2)4 – 10 mm long, 2 – 4 mm wide. Floral bracts 2(3), light green, speckled and indistinctly striped with purplebrown markings, broadly triangular-ovate, concave, 8 – 10 mm long, 5 – 8 mm wide, densely crowded at apex of peduncle and densely adpressed to perigone from below. Perigone urceolate, horizontally placed, 1.4 – 1.8 cm long and wide, with 6 short lobes, very light green (to almost white or yellowish), speckled and indistinctly striped with purple-brown markings outside, very dark purple – violet to almost black inside. Lobes subequal, triangular, flat, with slightly revolute margin, obtuse to blunt at apex, fleshy, rather smooth, straight or slightly recurved, 5 – 7 mm long, 6 – 8 mm wide at base. Stamens 6, filamentous, inserted at the middle of perigone; filaments white, laterally flattened, 1.5 mm tall; anthers bean-shaped, 2.5 – 3.0 mm long, 1.0 – 1.2 mm wide; pollen sacsintrorse; pollen white to light yellowish. Pistil desk-shaped, peltate; ovary inconspicuous; style stout, dirty purple – violet to almost black, cylindrical, 7 – 8 mm tall, 1 – 2 mm in diameter; stigma fleshy, discoid-peltate, white to light yellowish, very shallowly 3 lobed, with slightly emarginate lobes, (3.5)4.0 – 5.0 mm in diameter, upper surface of stigma papillose.

Aspidistra lubae var. lubae

(a) flowering plant, (b) shoot with flower, (d) peduncle and flower, side view, (e) flower, frontal view, (f) peduncle and flower, view from behind, (g) flower sagittal section, (h) stigma, frontal view, (i) stigma and ovary, sagittal section. All drawn from the type, L. Averyanov, T. Maisak, L. Osinovetz et al., CPC 1566a/no. 4. Aspidistra lubae var. lancifolia (c) flowering plant. Drawn from the type, L. Averyanov, T. Maisak, L. Osinovetz et al., CPC 1566a/no. 1 by L. Averyanov.

Distribution

Northern Vietnam (Hoa Binh province, Lac Son district). Endemic to northern Vietnam.

Ecology

Primary evergreen broad-leaved forests on limestone outcrops, in shady, humid places on soils rich in humus, at 500 – 700 m a.s.l. Not rare (LC). Flowered under cultivation in December.

A. lubae var. lancifolia Aver. et Tillich

The varietal name refers to the lanceolate shape of the leaf blade. Description Leaves shortly petiolate to subsessile. Petiole stiff, erect, straight, 2 – 5(6) cm long. Leaf blade erect or distally arching, lanceolate, attenuate at base and at apex, 20 – 35 cm long, 1.5 – 3.0(4.0) cm wide, broadly irregularly undulate along margin, uniformly grass green above and below. In other morphological characters similar to the type variety.

Distribution

Northern Vietnam (Hoa Binh province, Lac Son district). Endemic to northern Vietnam.

Ecology

Primary evergreen broad-leaved forests on limestone outcrops, in shady, humid places on soils rich in humus. at 500 – 700 m a.s.l. Not rare (LC). Flowered under cultivation in January.