MYRMECODIA ALATA

This member of the Rubiaceae family was given this name by Odoardo Beccari in 1884. It is found in northern Irian Jeya in Indonesia, growing as an epiphyte with quite some water and some to lots of sun. The caudex can grow to seven centimetres in diameter, 15 centimetres long, the entire plant to 45 centimetres in height with only one, unbranched stem. The flowers are bluish white, while the fruits are yellow.

The genera name means 'ant head'.

The species name means 'winged'. C.R. Huxley & M.H.P. Jebb Key to the genera of THE HYDNOPHYTTNAE la. Flower 6-merous, bracts or bract hairs conspicuous................................... Myrmephytum b. Flower 4-merous, bracts and bract hairs conspicuous or not................................................ 2 2a. Inflorescence solitary, ± centralor laterally displaced in the leafaxil......................................... 3 b. Inflorescence paired, side by side, sometimes displaced along the stem....................................... 5 3a. Inflorescence ± centralto leaf axil, sessile to sunken, large, 0.5-4 cm across; stem branches and spines sometimes conspicuous, arising among the peduncular patches......... Anthorrhiza b. Inflorescence not central to leafaxil, pedunculate to sessile, rarely terminal, less than 0.5 cm broad at the base. Spines absent from the inflorescence, but adventitiousroots sometimespresent.............. 4 4a. Tuber with rings ofentrance holes, concentric about the tuberaxis. Corolla with fringed plates at the base of the tube...................... Squamellaria b. Entrance holes scattered over the tuber surface or in two lines along the sides of the tuber. Corolla glabrous or with a ring of hairs within the tube................................. Hydnophytum 5a. Inflorescence sunken. Tuber and stem with spines or adventitious roots especially around holes and inflorescences. Stems one to few, thick, branching sparse or absent; vascular tissue in 4 bundles. Leaves never less than 5 cm long. Pyrenes 4-10.... Myrmecodia b. Inflorescence pedunculate to sessile. Tuber and stem without spines, occasionally with adventitious roots. Stems one to many, slender; ± freely branching; vascular tissue forming a cylinder. Leaves 0.3-30 cm. Pyrenes 2-4...... Hydnophytum