Amorphophallus bufo Ridl.

Scholten, J., 2023, An updated identification guide to the species of Amorphophallus (Araceae): new synonyms and a set of global dichotomous keys, Blumea 68 (2), pp. 139-161 : 141-142

Amorphophallus bufo Ridl.

Amorphophallus bufo Ridl. (1909) 89. — Syntypes: C. B. Closs s.n. ( K [ K000291438 ]), [ Malaysia,] Selangor, Langut ; H. N. Ridley 13846 ( SING [ SING0043531 , SING0043532 ]), [ Malaysia,] Pahang, Telom ).

Amorphophallus manta Hett. & Ittenb. (1994) 263. — Type: Ittenbach s.n. (in cult.) (holo BONN [spirit coll.]), [ Germany,] Bonn Botanical Garden, 23 Feb. 1994, from Kielmann s.n., [ Indonesia,] Sumatera, Harau Gorge , July 1992, syn. nov.

Discussion — Amorphophallus bufo was described from Peninsular Malaysia, whereas A. manta was described from the neighboring island of Sumatera. Amorphophallus manta was distinguished from A. bufo in having a spadix equally long as the spathe, an indistinct style, and distant anthers with longer filaments. The description ( Ridley 1909) in the protologue ex- plicitly states that the spadix is as long as the spathe, and that the stigma is discord (presumably to be interpreted as variable in shape); therefore, the first pair of aforementioned diagnostic characters are subsumed by the variability encompassed by a

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A. bufo . Filament length and anther density were also found to be quite variable in both living and herbarium specimens of individuals from either region, with specimens displaying intermediate phenotypes for both characters; ergo, A. manta is here synonymized with A. bufo .