Urospatha grandis - Palmengarten Frankfurt - DSC01784

''Urospatha'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of flowering plants in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Araceae The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also ...

that consists of 11 known species. They are found growing in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> in

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s, wet savannahs, and brackish water. The leaves of the species in this genus are upward pointing and sagittate (arrow-shaped). The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s are quite unique; the

spathe In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...

mottled Mottle is a pattern of irregular marks, spots, streaks, blotches or patches of different shades or colours. It is commonly used to describe the surface of plants or the skin of animals. In plants, mottling usually consists of yellowish spots on p ...

and elongated with a

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects. Two-dimensional A two-dimension ...

twist at the end. The seeds are distributed by water and have a texture similar to

cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

that allows them to float. They also quickly germinate in water.Bown, Demi (2000). ''Aroids: Plants of the Arum Family''. Timber Press. .

Selected species

# '' Urospatha angustiloba'' Engl. - northwestern Brazil # '' Urospatha antisylleptica'' R.E.Schult. - Colombia # '' Urospatha caudata'' (Poepp.) Schott - Peru, northwestern Brazil # '' Urospatha edwallii'' Engl. - southeastern Brazil # '' Urospatha friedrichsthalii'' Schott - Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama # '' Urospatha loefgreniana'' Engl. - central + southern Brazil # '' Urospatha meyeri'' Schott - Suriname #'' Urospatha riedeliana'' Schott - northeastern Brazil # '' Urospatha sagittifolia'' (Rudge) Schott - Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas # '' Urospatha somnolenta'' R.E.Schult. - Colombia # '' Urospatha wurdackii'' (G.S.Bunting) A.Hay - Colombia, Venezuela

References

Lasioideae Araceae genera {{Araceae-stub