The subspecies of Arisaema triphyllum
In 1949, Huttleston gave formal descriptions of three subspecies of Arisaema triphyllum. He also described a fourth subspecies in 1981. These four taxa are members of a closely-related group of species now known as the Arisaema triphyllum species complex.
- Huttleston, Donald G. (1949). "The three subspecies of Arisaema triphyllum". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 76 (6): 407–413. doi:10.2307/2482333
- Huttleston, Donald G. (1981). "The four subspecies of Arisaema triphyllum". Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 108 (4): 479–481. doi:10.2307/2484449
Huttleston’s papers are not readily available online. When I finally obtained copies, I discovered that the 1981 paper contained a comprehensive table of characters that is generally useful. That table has been reproduced in the following document:
- The subspecies of Arisaema triphyllum (googledoc)
Some notes and a brief glossary are included as well.
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Thank you so much for tracking down these papers, and for compiling the table. According to Haines, "gibbous" in this context means "conspicuously swollen on one side."
@tsn thanks for the reference to Haines. I'll review my old observations with this in mind.
Do you agree with my tentative interpretation of the phrase “Spathe lamina color, ventrally”?
Yes, "ventral" typically means the front or lower side, while "dorsal" means the back or upper side.
I was confused about dorsal used for the underside of the leaves, because in medical terminology I would have taken it to mean the tops of the leaves. But I looked up the abaxial term you used to define it, which clarified it is the underside of the leaves. Thank you.
@kathleensweetman yes, that confused me too. The table in the googledoc is unabridged, but maybe I should edit for clarity? Since there are notes included, I guess it doesn't matter much.
FYI, I added a description of the Arisaema triphyllum complex to wikipedia, including the table from [Huttleston 1981], suitably edited.
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