Urospatha
(from oura, a tail, and spatha, a spathe; referring to the long-pointed spathe in most of the species). ORD. Aroideae (Araceae). A genus comprising about ten species of stove, marsh-loving herbs, with thick rhizomes, natives of tropical America. Flowers hermaphrodite, the lower ones sterile; spathe erect, closed at base, at length opening, long-narrowed above, straight, decurved, or twisted, persistent; spadix sessile or nearly so, inappendiculate, much shorter than the spathe; perianth segments and stamens four to six; peduncle elongated. Leaves few, hastate-sagittate, with diverging nerves or nearly parallel ribs; petioles elongated, sheathing at base. The two introduced species thrive in light, loamy soil, and require an abundance of water when growing. They may be propagated by division of the rootstock. U. desciscens (degenerate). fl., spathe brown and claret-coloured, convolute below, gaping above, long-acuminate, incurved or arcuate; spadix sessile, cylindroid, obtuse, shorter than the spathe tube; peduncle equalling the petioles. l. broadly lobed, the anterior one triangular, acuminate, the posterior rather longer, oblong, acuminate, very inequilateral; petioles smooth, nearly twice the length of the blades. h. 3ft. Brazil, 1860. U. sagittifolia (sagittate-leaved). fl., spathe yellowish-green or deep green, mottled or blotched with grey or rosy-red, lanceolate, long-acuminate; spadix green, cylindrical, a quarter to one-fifth the length of the spathe. l. broadly lobed, hastate-sagittate, the anterior lobe lanceolate-triangular, acuminate; basal lobes rather longer, oblong-lanceolate; petioles slightly scabrous or scabrid, warted. Para, 1866, "U. elegans, U. grandis, U. picturata, U. spectabilis, and U. splendens, all from Para, are garden names for what are probably varieties of this species" (N. E. Brown).