Tacca leontopetaloides (L.) Kuntze

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Photo: Bart Wursten
Katiyo Tea Estates, Lower Pungwe River

Photo: Bart Wursten
Wafa-wafa Hills, near Kariba

Photo: Bart Wursten
Pungwe River at Katiyo Tea Estate

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Synonyms:	Tacca involucrata Schumach. & Thonn.
Common names:	Arrowroot (English)
Frequency:
Status:
Description:	Erect herb up to 2 m tall, with annual leaves and flowers growing from a fleshy tuber. Leaves usually 1-3; petiole erect up to c. 1.5 m tall; lamina compound, up to c. 90 × 60 cm, broadly 3-lobed, the lobes deeply pinnately and sometimes palmately divided into variable secondary lobes. Inflorescence usually 1, rarely 2 on an erect hollow scape, up to 1.7 m tall. Flowers 10-40 in an umbel, pale green to white, yellowish or brown, usually variably tinged purple. The whole inflorescence subtended by an involucre of 4-8 bract up to c. 4 × 3 cm, green with purple margins and numerous more or less pendent floral bracts, filiform, dark purple, up to 25 cm long. Fruit berry-like, globose to ovoid, 2-3 cm long, pendent, green to orange, dark brown when dry, normally only 2-7 flowers per umbel developing fruit.
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Habitat:
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Flowering time:	Dec - Jan
Worldwide distribution:	Widespread in Subsaharan Africa from Senegal to Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Also in Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius, Seychelles and tropical Asia to the Pacific.
Growth form(s):
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
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Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Literature:	Baumann, G. (2005). Photographic Guide to Wildflowers of Malawi Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi Pages 186 - 187. (Includes a picture). Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 112. Strugnell, A.M. (2006). A Checklist of the Spermatophytes of Mount Mulanje, Malawi Scripta Botanica Belgica 34 National Botanic Garden of Belgium Page 179. Wilkin, P. (2009). Dioscoreaceae Flora Zambesiaca 12(2) Pages 138 - 140. in Dioscoreaceae (Includes a picture).

Other sources of information about Tacca leontopetaloides:

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Flora of Malawi: Tacca leontopetaloides
Flora of Mozambique: Tacca leontopetaloides
Flora of Zambia: Tacca leontopetaloides
Flora of Zimbabwe: Tacca leontopetaloides

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Tacca leontopetaloides
African Plant Database: Tacca leontopetaloides
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Tacca leontopetaloides
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Tacca leontopetaloides
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Tacca leontopetaloides
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Tacca leontopetaloides
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Tacca leontopetaloides
JSTOR Plant Science: Tacca leontopetaloides
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Tacca leontopetaloides
Plants of the World Online: Tacca leontopetaloides
Tropicos: Tacca leontopetaloides
Wikipedia: Tacca leontopetaloides