Remusatia hookeriana - Purple-Stem Elephant-Ear

Purple-Stem Elephant-Ear is a cormous herb, often found growing on mossy rocks or tree stumps. Leaves are 2, appearing in after flowering, leaf-stalk tinged reddish, with darker markings, up to 45 cm x about 8 mm. Leaf blade becoming purple below, green above, ovate-lanceshaped, first leaf up to 30 x 13 cm, membranous, peltate and heart-shaped at base, long tapering at tip; second leaf appearing from sheath in proximal part of leaf-stalk of first leaf, leaf-stalk 10-20 cm, leaf blade smaller, about 14 x 4.5 cm. Flowering before leaves develop. Flower-cluster-stalk is greenish, 4-13 cm x 1.5-3.5 mm. Spathe 3-7 cm; tube convolute, green outside, dark purple inside, ovoid, 1.3-2.7 cm x 5-10 mm; limb deciduous, semispreading to erect, entirely yellow-green, ovate, 2-4.5 x about 3.3 cm, tip pointed. Spadix is stalkless, yellow-green, shorter than spathe. Purple-Stem Elephant-Ear is found in evergreen forests, in the Himalayas, NE India, Bhutan, Nepal, N Thailand, China. Flowering: May.