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Disporum cantoniense (Lour.) Merr.

Species

Angiosperms > Liliales > Colchicaceae > Disporum

Characteristics

Stems erect, often 45-80 cm high, up to lll2 m, branched only in the upper half; branches erect-spreading, becoming flexuose distally. Roots fibrous or slightly thickened but not tuberous. Leaves usually ovate, less often oblong or lanceolate, rarely suborbicular, acuminate, 6½-17 by 2.5-9 cm, with 5-9 veins prominent on the lower surface and numerous finer veins; petiole to 8 mm. Inflorescence an umbel of 2-7 flowers terminating a short branch which arises opposite a leaf and bears a single sometimes somewhat reduced leaf; peduncle 0-3.5 cm; pedicels 1-4 cm. Perianth segments lanceolate to oblanceolate, acute, keeled below and usually saccate or less often with a spur to 5 mm long at the base, white, greenish to purple, 1-2(-2.5) cm long. Filaments linear to lanceolate, often less than half as long as the perianth; anthers bright yellow, 2.5-4 mm long. Berry bluish black, 7-10 mm ø. Seeds c. 3 mm ø.
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Rhizome creeping, thick, without stolon. Stem usually branched distally, 50--100(--150) cm. Petiole 2--4 mm; leaves lanceolate to narrowly oblong-lanceolate, 5--12 × 1--5 cm. Inflorescences terminal and pseudolateral, (2 or)3--10-flowered; peduncle usually distinct; pedicels 1--4 cm, usually papillose-scabrous. Flowers slightly opening. Tepals purplish, oblanceolate, 1.5--2.5(--2.8) cm × 4--5 mm, base gibbous-spurred, apex subacute and without dense papillae; spurs 2--3 mm. Stamens 0.8--1.5 cm, included; filaments 8--11 mm; anthers 3--4 mm. Ovary ca. 3 mm. Style 0.7--1.5 cm. Berries 8--10 mm in diam., 2-or 3(--5)-seeded. Fl. May--Jul, fr. Aug--Oct. 2 n = 14, 16.
A herb. It grows to 1 m high. It has a thick, creeping rhizome or underground stem but no stolons or runners. The stem is usually branched near the end. It is 50-100 cm high. The leaves are alternate. They are sword shaped and taper to the tip. The base is heart shaped. The leaf blade is 5-12 cm long by 1-5 cm wide. The flowers are greenish-white, or purplish. They occur as a few flowers in a flat arrangement at the ends of branches. The fruit is a berry 8-10 mm across. There are 2-3 seeds but sometimes 5.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 0.1 - 0.5
Mature height (meter) 1.0
Root system rhizome
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

In both primary and secondary forest, rarely in the open, (700-)1000-2550 m; especially common in W. Java. Fl. Jan.-Dec. Docters van Leeuwen l.c. observed the flowers to be proto-gynous; self-pollination is possible but bumblebees also regularly visit the flowers.
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A subtropical plant. In Nepal it grows between 1100-2900 m altitude. In China it grows in forests and thickets between 700-3000 m altitude in S China. It grows best in moist, slightly shaded places.
Cool shady places at elevations of 1,100-2,900 metres in Nepal. Forests and thickets at elevations of 700-3,000 metres.
Cool shady places at elevations of 1100-2900 metres in Nepal. Forests and thickets at elevations of 700-3000 metres.
Light 4-6
Soil humidity 5-7
Soil texture 2-5
Soil acidity 2-8
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-10

Usage

The tender leaves and shoots are cooked as a vegetable. The root stock is sliced, well boiled and cooked as a vegetable.
Uses medicinal
Edible leaves roots shoots
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) 30 - 180
Germination temperacture (C°) 12 - 18
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment stratification
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Disporum cantoniense unspecified picture

Distribution

Disporum cantoniense world distribution map, present in China, Indonesia, Iceland, Japan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Malaysia, Nepal, Thailand, and Viet Nam

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:534036-1
WFO ID wfo-0000765544
COL ID 36VQJ
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Uvularia pitsutu Uvularia leschenaultiana Disporum cantoniense Fritillaria cantoniensis Disporum chinense Disporum cantoniense var. brunneum Disporum cantoniense var. parviflorum Disporum pullum var. brunnea Disporum pullum var. parviflorum Disporum leschenaultianum var. angustifolium Disporum chinense var. pullum Disporum chinense var. longipedunculatum Disporum chinense var. viridulum Disporum chinense var. parviflorum Disporum pullum

Lower taxons

Disporum cantoniense var. multiflorum Disporum cantoniense var. cantoniense Disporum cantoniense var. y-tiense Disporum cantoniense var. sikkimense
WorldFloraDB 2024