Philodendron pseudauriculatum Croat, sp. nov.
TYPE: Panama. Panamá: El Llano--Cartí road, 4 mi. from Inter-American Hwy. near El Llano, ca. 300 m, 27 Mar. 1976, Croat 33730 (holotype, MO--2381528; isotypes, PMA, RSA, SEL). Figures 35, 300, 309--310, 313--314.
Planta hemiepiphytica; internodia 1.4(9) cm longa, 2--4 cm diam.; cataphylla 18--27 cm longa, acute 2-costata, decidua; petiolus subspongiosus, 11--42 cm longus, 7--26 mm diam., subteres, leviter complanatus adaxialiter, late et obtuse sulcatus in medio, cum annuluo viridis apice; lamina oblongo-elliptica vel oblanceolato-elliptica, plurumque acuta vel anguste rotundata, interdum subcordata truncata basi, 27--80 cm longa, 7.5--25 cm lata; in sicco atricaniviridis; inflorescentia 2--3; pedunculus 5.5--21(25) cm longus, 8--12 mm diam.; spatha (10.6)12--23 cm longa, omnino alba vel subrosea, marginibus cremeis; lamina spathae extus eburnea vel flaviviridi, striata flaviaurantiaca, intus pallide viridi vel alba; tubo spathae extus vel atriviridi, interdum extus leniter suffuso purpurascenti secus margines, vivide rubriviolaceo vel atrimarronino vel flaviaurantiaco; pistilla 5--8(9)-locularia; loculi 1--2(4)-ovulati; baccae aurantiacae.
Hemiepiphytic; stem
appressed-climbing, to 1 m long; internodes gray-green, glossy to semiglossy,
1--4(9) cm long, 2--4 cm diam., usually somewhat flattened on one side, frequently
with a short series of transverse ridges just below the nodes on both sides
of the rounded portion of internodes, usually about as broad as long, or broader
than long on flowering plants, sometimes slightly longer than broad; roots dark
brown, slender, few per node; cataphylls moderately spongy, 18--27 cm long,
sharply 2-ribbed (ribs to ca. 1 cm high), medium green, densely dark green short-lineate,
deciduous, apiculate (apiculum >1 cm long) at apex.
LEAVES erect, more or less rosulate, somewhat clustered at or near stem
apex; petioles 11--42 cm long, 0.7--2.6 cm diam., subterete, somewhat
spongy, slightly flattened, bluntly and broadly sulcate midway, less so toward
apex, more so toward base adaxially, surface medium green, semiglossy, with
dark green ring around apex; blades oblong-elliptic to oblanceolate-elliptic,
subcoriaceous to coriaceous, somewhat to markedly bicolorous, semiglossy, acuminate,
sometimes long-acuminate at apex, mostly acute to rounded, sometimes broadly
subcordate, or sometimes truncate at base, 27--80 cm long, 7.5--25 cm wide (2.2--4(5)
times longer than wide), (0.97--3.6 times longer than petiole), upper surface
dark green, drying dark gray-green, lower surface much paler, yellow-green,
drying yellow-green to yellow-brown; sinus (when present) to 2.5 cm deep; midrib
flattened at base, slightly sulcate midway, broadly convex at apex and concolorous
above, convex, short-green-lineate, paler than surface below; basal veins (0)1--3(4),
all free to base; posterior rib lacking; primary lateral veins 8--14 per side,
departing midrib at a 65--75E angle (45--55E angle at apex), more or less straight
to the margins, sunken above, convex and slightly paler than surface or darker
than surface below; interprimary veins flat, darker than surface below; minor
veins moderately distinct and fine below, arising from both the midrib and primary
lateral veins. INFLORESCENCES 2--3 per axil; peduncle 5.5--21(25) cm long, 8--12
mm diam., pale to medium green, finely white- or dark-striate; spathe
(10.6)12--23 cm long, 1.7 cm diam. (0.7--2.6 times longer than peduncle), constricted
midway above the tube, white to pinkish throughout, margins cream; spathe blade
creamy white to yellowish green with faint green tinge along center on backside
(B & K yellow-red 7.5/9), yellow-orange striate outside, 8.5--9 cm long,
(opening elliptic in face view, 7.5--9 cm long, 2--5.5 cm wide), pale green
to white inside; resin canals orange; spathe tube oblong-ellipsoid, medium to
dark green, sometimes weakly tinged purplish along margins outside, densely
short white lineate, semi-glossy outside, 5.5--10.5 cm long, 1.8--4 cm diam.,
bright red-violet to dark maroon (weakly so towards apex) to yellowish orange,
sometimes broad, white lineate or orange striate inside; spadix weakly
stipitate to 3--5 mm long, cylindrical to weakly tapered, 7.5--15.3 cm long,
broadest below the middle; pistillate portion cylindrical to clavate, pale lime
green to pale yellow to medium or dark green, 3--5.5 cm long in front, 1.7--4
cm long in back, 1--1.2 cm diam. at apex, 1.5 cm diam. at middle, 8--11 mm wide
at base; staminate portion 4.5--10.7(12) cm long; fertile staminate portion
broadest in middle, slightly taper toward both ends and broadened before the
sterile portion, 9--16 mm diam. at base, 9--10 mm diam. at middle, 5--10 mm
diam. ca. 1 cm from apex, broadest at the base, as broad as the pistillate portion,
narrower than the sterile portion; sterile staminate portion broader than the
pistillate portion, white, 8--15 mm diam.; pistils 1.7--3.2 mm long, 1.3--2
mm diam.; ovary 5--8(9)-locular, 1.4--2.3 mm long, 1.5--2 mm diam., with sub-basal
placentation, walls embedded with granular, crystal-like particles; locules
1.4--2.1 mm long, 0.3--0.5 mm diam.; ovule sac 1--1.2 mm long; ovules 1--2(4)
per locule, contained within transparent, gelatinous ovule sac, 0.4--0.5 mm
long, longer than funicle; funicle 0.1--0.5 mm long, (can be pulled free to
base), style 0.4--1.4 mm long, 0.9--2.1 mm diam., similar to style type B; style
apex sloping to rounded, with small medial depression; stigma brush-like, cupulate,
subdiscoid, 0.9--1.2 mm diam., 0.2--0.6 mm high, covering entire style apex;
the androecium truncate, prismatic, oblong, margins irregularly 4--6-sided,
1.3--1.4 mm long, 1.6--1.8 mm diam. at apex; thecae oblong to cylindrical, 0.4--0.5
mm wide, nearly contiguous and more or less parallel to one another; pollen
ellipsoidal to spheroidal, <1 mm long, <1 mm diam.; sterile staminate
flowers irregularly 4--5-sided, margins bluntly rounded, 1.2--1.9 mm long, 1.8
mm wide. Berries orange (mature) or white; seeds 5 per berry, 1.3--1.9 mm long,
0.5--0.7 mm diam.
Flowering in Philodendron pseudauriculatum occurs during the dry season and the first half of the rainy season (January through September). Immature fruits have been collected during March, June, and July, with mature fruits known only from September.
Philodendron pseudauriculatum is definitely known only from Panama and adjacent Colombia (N Antioquia), ranging from 20 to 1400 m elevation in Premontane wet forest and Tropical wet forest life zones. Most collections have been made at La Mesa (Coclé), Cerro Campana (Panamá), and along the El Llano--Cartí Road (Panamá), but the species is also known from a single collection in Bocas del Toro and in the Serranía de Cañasas along the Pacific Ocean.
Philodendron pseudauriculatum is a member of P. sect. Calostigma subsect. Glossophyllum ser. Glossophyllm. This species is recognized by its appressed-climbing habit, short internodes, more or less rosulate habit, somewhat spongy, subterete petioles, oblong-elliptic to oblanceolate-elliptic, dark gray-green-drying blades with mostly narrowly rounded bases, and two to three inflorescences per axil, and white to pinkish spathes clearly demarcated from the peduncles.
Philodendron pseudauriculatum is most easily confused with P. ligulatum, especially P. ligulatum vars. heraclioanum and ligulatum, which have similarly shaped blades. Philodendron ligulatum var. heraclioanum differs in having sharply D-shaped petioles with undulate-margined wings. While the aforementioned varieties of P. ligulatum differ in their usually vining habit and typically elongate internodes, these features are particularly apparent in P. ligulatum var. ligulatum, which has internodes much longer than wide (versus about as long as broad or scarcely longer than broad as in P. pseudauriculatum). In addition, the leaves of P. ligulatum frequently dry much darker, mostly somewhat blackened, rather than the typical yellowish or brownish green of P. pseudauriculatum. Another feature separating live material of the species is the line of demarcation at the apex of the petiole, which is purple in P. ligulatum rather than green as in P. pseudauriculatum.
Philodendron pseudauriculatum may also be confused with both P. auriculatum (hence the epithet "pseudauriculatum"), from the Pacific slope of SW Costa Rica and P. wendlandii Schott from the Atlantic slope of Costa Rica and Panama. Philodendron auriculatum is distinguished by having leaf blades drying a paler yellow-green color and more narrowed toward the base with minute narrow auriculate posterior lobes. It also has proportionately somewhat longer petioles. Philodendron wendlandii differs in having a much shorter stem and petioles typically broader than thick with sharp margins.
Two collections (Croat 16908 and Knapp & Mallet 4658) from San Blas at Puerto Obaldía are probably also this species. They differ in having broader blades and drying somewhat blacker. If these prove to represent P. pseudauriculatum, the species is most assuredly present in adjacent Chocó. A collection from the Department of Santander in Colombia at 1460 to 1700 m (García-Barriga & Jaramillo 19671) may also be this species.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Additional specimens examined.
PANAMA. Bocas del Toro: Quebrada Huron, Duwebdulup Peak, N of Río Terebe, 300--900 ft., Kirkbride & Duke 558 (MO). Canal Area: Summit Gardens, Croat 10791) (F, MO, SCZ). Coclé: El Valle region, La Mesa, 650--710 m, Mori et al. 1916 (MO); Luteyn & Kennedy 1660 (DUKE); Hammel 3844 (MO); 860--900 m, Croat 37420 (MO); 900 m, 22964 (MO); 14362 (MO); 800 m, Croat & Zhu 76692 (MO); Bartlett & Lasser 16694 (F, MICH, MO); Kennedy et al. 3189 (MO, PMA); 785 m, 8E37'N, 80E08'W, Croat 67112 (MO); summit of Cerro Caracoral, near La Mesa, N of El Valle de Antón, 1100 m, Knapp 1118 (K, MO); Río Cascajal, Penonomé--Coclecito, 5.6 mi. N of Llano Grande, 150 m, 8E46'N, 80E27'W, Croat 67484 (AAU, CAS, COL, F, L, MEXU, MO, NY, PMA, QCA, TEX). Colón: near Peluca, on road to Nombre de Dios, Kennedy 2774 (F, MO); Portobelo--Nombre de Dios, Nuevo Tonosí, <100 m, Croat 33526 (CM, COL, K, L, MO, NY, PMA, QCA, RSA, US); Sabanitas-Portobelo, Río Piedras drainage, 250 m, 9E22'30"N, 79E41'30"W, Croat 75160 (MO); Portobelo, Croat & Porter 15606 (MO); Río Boquerón, near No. 1 (manganese mine), E of Salamanca, 50 m, 9E35'N, 79E32'W, Knapp et al. 5832 (B, K, MO); Puerto Pilón--Portobelo, ca. 1.5 mi. above bridge, <100 m, 9E27'N, 79E4'W, Croat & Zhu 76251 (CR, MO, PMA); Río Guanche, 30--100 m, Croat 79322 (PMA); ca. 5 km upstream from road to Portobelo, 50 m, 9E30'N, 79E40'W, Hammel & Trainer 14765 (MO); ca. 3--5 km above bridge, 50--200 m, Croat 37002 (MO); 10--100 m, 26147 (BR, F, MO); ca. 50 m, ca. 9E30'N, 79E40'W, McPherson 8507 (MO); Río Iguanita, near bridge along Portobelo Road, <50 m, 9E27'N, 79E42'W, Croat 49778A (MO); Río Miguel de la Borda, vic. of Guásimo, Croat 9985 (MO, SCZ); Río Sirrí, Trinidad Basin, 20--50 m, Pittier 4015 (US). Darién: Cerro Pirre National Park, W side of Cerro Pirre, base camp, 50 m, 8EN, 77E48'W, Croat 68962 (M, MO, NY, US); near station along Río Perisenico, 110 m, 8E01'N, 77E44'W, Croat & Zhu 77094 (CM, MO); Cerro Pirre region, trail NW of Cana, 600 m, Sullivan 712 (MO); Cana, near Río Setigandi, 540--580 m, Gentry et al. 28542 (MO); Cana gold mine, vic. of airstrip, 480 m, Croat 38038 (MO); 500--600 m, 37595 (MO), along Río Cana, SW of Cerro Pirre, 1400 m, Croat 27292 (MO); Río Coasi, 0--2 mi. E of Tres Bocas, Kirkbride & Duke 1203 (MO, NY); Río Cocalito, Whitefoord & Eddy 224 (BM); 162 (BM, MO); Río Jaqué Valley, Quebrada Luka, 100--200 m, 7E27'N, 78E05'W, Knapp & Mallet 3199 (MO, NY); Río Tuquesa, ca. 2 km by air from Continental Divide, Croat 27160 (F, MO); Clezio 168 (MO). Panamá: El Llano--Cartí Road, 5 mi. from Pan-American Highway, 350 m, Croat 67345 (CAS, MO); Km 8--12, ca. 400--450 m, Nee et al. 8802 (MO); ca. Mile 8, 225--275 m, 9E15'04"N, 79E00'04"W, McPherson 10492 (AAU, MEXU, MO); Km 19.1, 350 m, 9E19'N, 78E55'W, de Nevers et al. 7342 (MO); Río Terabe Valley, El Llano--Cartí, 8 km from highway, 300--400 m, 9E16'N, 79EW, Knapp & Schmalzel 5493 (MO); area around Pilota de Toro, Folsom et al. 6819 (MO, PMA); Tortí--Pilota del Toro, above Tortí Arriba, Folsom et al. 4993 (MO, PMA); Cerro Campana, 6.1 mi. above Pan-American Highway, 800 m, 8E41'N, 79E56'W, Croat 74762 (F, MO); ca. 1 mi. from highway, ca. 150 m, 35991 (MO); along trail to summit, 780--875 m, 25253 (MO, NY, PMA, US); ca. 850 m, 8E42'N, 79E56'W, Miller et al. 754 (MO); upper slopes, 207 m, LeDoux 2595 (MO); above Su Lin Motel, Porter et al. 4250 (MO); Río Tortí, base of Serranía de Cañazas, ca. 15 km SW of Ca¸aza, 150 m, 8E52'N, 78E22'W, Stein 1342 (MO); Sendero de Interpretación, 1 km al este del Campamento de los guardabosques de INRENARE, 800--900 m, 8E40'N, 79E55'W, Correa & Montenegro 10681b (STRI). San Blas: El Llano-Cartí Road, Km 19, 350 m, 9E19'N, 78E55'W, deNevers et al. 5598 (MO); Puerto Obaldía, 0--50 m, Pittier 4398 (US); beach E of Puerto Obaldía, Croat 16908 (MO); Puerto Obaldía--La Bonga, ca. 2 hours walk from Puerto Obaldía, 0--50 m, 8E40'N, 77E25'W, Knapp & Mallet 4658 (MO); Nusagandi, El Llano--Cartí Road, 10.1 mi. N of main highway, 300 m, 9E20'N, 79EW, Croat & Zhu 76554 (CM, MO); Río Playón Chico, 80--200 m, 9E13'05"N, 78E15'W, Herrera & Arosemena 1784 (MO, PMA, STRI).
COLOMBIA. Antioquia: Mpio. Turbo, carretera tapón del Darién, sector Río León--lomas aisladas, km 37, 20 m, Brand 1070 (COL, MO). Chocó: Mecana, N of Bahía Solano, 1--100 m, 6E16'N, 77E21'W, Juncosa 1609 (MO). Risaralda: Mistrató, Jeguadas--Santa Cecilia, 800--850 m, 5E24'N, 76E01'W, Betancur et al. 3459 (MO); corregimiento de Santa Cecilia, 500--550 m, 5E17'N, 76E13'W, Betancur et al. 2930 (MO); Pueblo Rico, Santa Cecilia--Pueblo Rico, Km 13, Quebrada Pionda, 700--900 m, 5E17'N, 76E13'W, Betancur et al. 3052 (MO).