6. Tacca chantrieri André DIOSCOREACEAE

One of the so-called ‘bat flowers’, with brownish flowers surrounded by pairs of paler, petal-like bracts and drooping, thread-like bracteoles. This species occurs from Meghalaya and Nagaland in India, southwards and eastwards to China and Peninsular Malaysia where it occurs in damp habitats in primary and secondary forests up to an altitude of 1400 metres. In Thailand its young leaves and inflorescences are eaten in curries and its rhizomes used medicinally. It is named after a member of the Chantrier family, nurserymen of Mortefontaine, a town north-east of Paris.