''Dracontium'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

s similar to those of ''

Amorphophallus ''Amorphophallus'' (from Ancient Greek , "without form, misshapen" + ''phallos'', "penis", referring to the shape of the prominent spadix) is a large genus of some 200 tropical and subtropical tuberous herbaceous plants from the ''Arum'' family ...

''. Unlike ''Amorphophallus'' which is found in the Old World, this genus has a New World distribution and is native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, southern

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

, and the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Great ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> ''Dracontium'' species can be distinguished from related genera by their

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

, which is smaller and

unisexual Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproducti ...

. The plant has a large

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growin ...

similar to that of ''

'', but rounder, and with no central and circular scar mark. When ''Dracontium'' plants begin to flower, the tuber swells and smoothens.Zhu, G. h. & T. B. Croat. 2004. Revision of ''Dracontium'' (Araceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 91(4): 593–667

Species

More than 20 ''Dracontium'' species have been described: * '' Dracontium amazonense'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Venezuela, Peru, northwestern Brazil * '' Dracontium angustispathum'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Colombia, Peru * '' Dracontium asperispathum'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Colombia, Peru, Ecuador * '' Dracontium asperum'' K. Koch - Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Trinidad, Windward Islands, Venezuela, Peru, northwestern Brazil, the Guianas * '' Dracontium bogneri'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Brazil * '' Dracontium croatii'' G.H.Zhu - Carchi and Pichincha Provinces in Ecuador * '' Dracontium dubium''

Kunth Carl Sigismund Kunth (18 June 1788 – 22 March 1850), also Karl Sigismund Kunth or anglicized as Charles Sigismund Kunth, was a German botanist. He is known for being one of the first to study and categorise plants from the American continent ...

- Venezuela, Guyana * '' Dracontium gigas'' ( Seem.) Engl. - Nicaragua, Costa Rica * '' Dracontium grandispathum'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Ecuador * '' Dracontium grayumianum'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Panama, Colombia * '' Dracontium guianense'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - French Guiana * ''

Dracontium iquitense ''Dracontium'' is a genus of flowering plants similar to those of ''Amorphophallus''. Unlike ''Amorphophallus'' which is found in the Old World, this genus has a New World distribution and is native to South America, Central America, southern Mex ...

'' E.C.Morgan & J.A.Sperling - Loreto region of eastern Peru * ''

Dracontium longipes ''Dracontium'' is a genus of flowering plants similar to those of ''Amorphophallus''. Unlike ''Amorphophallus'' which is found in the Old World, this genus has a New World distribution and is native to South America, Central America, southern Mex ...

'' Engl. - Peru, Acre State of Brazil * '' Dracontium margaretae'' Bogner - Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay * '' Dracontium nivosum'' (

Lem. Charles Antoine Lemaire (1 November 1800, in Paris – 22 June 1871, in Paris), was a French botanist and botanical author, noted for his publications on Cactaceae. Education Born the son of Antoine Charles Lemaire and Marie Jeanne Davio, he h ...

) G.H.Zhu - Pará, Maranhão * ''

Dracontium peruvianum ''Dracontium'' is a genus of flowering plants similar to those of ''Amorphophallus''. Unlike ''Amorphophallus'' which is found in the Old World, this genus has a New World distribution and is native to South America, Central America, southern Mex ...

'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Peru, northwestern Brazil * ''

Dracontium pittieri ''Dracontium pittieri'' is a species of flowering plant native to Costa Rica. It is similar in appearance to ''Dracontium gigas'', but has a substantially longer peduncle, which is the longest of any plant in its genus, between five and eight tim ...

'' Engl. - Costa Rica * ''

Dracontium plowmanii ''Dracontium'' is a genus of flowering plants similar to those of ''Amorphophallus''. Unlike ''Amorphophallus'' which is found in the Old World, this genus has a New World distribution and is native to South America, Central America, southern Mex ...

'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Peru * '' Dracontium polyphyllum'' L. - Pará, French Guiana, Suriname, Venezuela, Peru, Puerto Rico * ''

Dracontium prancei ''Dracontium'' is a genus of flowering plants similar to those of ''Amorphophallus''. Unlike ''Amorphophallus'' which is found in the Old World, this genus has a New World distribution and is native to South America, Central America, southern Mex ...

'' G.H.Zhu & Croat - Amazonas and Roraima States of northwestern Brazil * ''

Dracontium purdieanum ''Dracontium'' is a genus of flowering plants similar to those of ''Amorphophallus''. Unlike ''Amorphophallus'' which is found in the Old World, this genus has a New World distribution and is native to South America, Central America, southern Mex ...

'' ( Schott) Engl. - Colombia, Venezuela * ''

Dracontium soconuscum ''Dracontium'' is a genus of flowering plants similar to those of ''Amorphophallus''. Unlike ''Amorphophallus'' which is found in the Old World, this genus has a New World distribution and is native to South America, Central America, southern Mex ...

'' Matuda - Chiapas, Costa Rica, Panama * '' Dracontium spruceanum'' (Schott) G.H.Zhu - Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, northwestern Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Suriname * '' Dracontium ulei''

K.Krause Kurt Krause (April 20, 1883 in Potsdam – November 19, 1963 in Berlin) was a German botanist who wrote 33 articles and five books on the flora and vegetation of Turkey about 9300 species of vascular plant were known to grow in Turkey. By comp ...

- Acre State in western Brazil; Pando region of northern Bolivia

References

Araceae genera {{Araceae-stub