Philodendron sulcicaule Croat

CATE Araceae, 17 Dec 2011. araceae.e-monocot.org

Habitat

Premontane wet forest transition to Tropical wet forest life zones.

Distribution

Ranges from extreme southeastern Costa Rica to the Atlantic slope of Panama.

Phenology

Flowering in Philodendron sulcicaule occurs during the dry season and early wet season (December through May, though no flowering collections have been seen from April). Post-anthesis collections have been seen from March and April. No fruits have been seen.

General Description

Hemiepiphytic vine; stem scandent, drying yellow, glossy; internodes deeply sulcate, prominently ribbed, semiglossy, 6 - 16 cm long, 5 - 13 mm diam., longer than broad, olive-green; epidermis becoming brown, breaking free on bending stem; roots red-brown, slender, curled, 8-20 cm long; cataphylls 12 cm long, unribbed to sharply 1-ribbed, rarely sharply 2-ribbed, green rarely pink, deciduous intact. LEAVES: Petioles 11 - 20 cm long, 4 - 8 mm diam., subterete, dark green, weakly flattened adaxially, semiglossy; blades ovate-cordate, subcoriaceous, semiglossy, moderately bicolorous, abruptly- to long-acuminate at apex (the acumen apiculate, to 4 mm long), cordate at base, 14.5 - 24 cm long, 9.6 - 15 cm wide (1.3--1.9 times longer than wide), (0.9-1.6 times longer than petiole), about two-thirds as long as petiole, margins drying moderately undulate, upper surface dark green, drying usually dark brown, semiglossy to matte, lower surface paler, drying light brown to greenish brown, sometimes yellowish brown, semiglossy; anterior lobe 10 - 19.6 cm long, 7 - 15 cm wide (2.6 - 3.8 times longer than posterior lobes); posterior lobes 3.5-6 cm long, 2.7 - 6.4 cm wide, rounded-obtuse to nearly acute; sinus arcuate with blade decurrent on petiole to short-hippocrepiform; midrib flat to weakly raised, concolorous above, convex, concolorous to paler than surface below; basal veins to 3 per side, weak, 1 sometimes free to base, the remainder coalesced 0.5 - 2 cm; posterior rib naked for all its length; primary lateral veins obscure above, obscure below; minor veins distinct, fine, close, arising from the midrib only; "cross-veins" sometimes visible. INFLORESCENCES 1-1. (5) per axil; peduncle 3.5-10 cm long, 1 - 3 mm diam., reddish, whitish or purplish, slender; spathe (4.5)5.8-11 cm long, (0.9-1.1(2) times longer than peduncle), weakly constricted midway, 5 mm diam. at constriction, white throughout, becoming greenish (post-anthesis), rarely reddish (Gomez el al. 20473), cuspidate-acuminate at apex (the acumen ca. 1.5 mm long), white inside; resin canals appearing as intermittent lines in lower two-thirds of spathe, extending into upper part of spathe tube, drying blackened; spathe tube 3^4. cm long, red, pink, or purple at base inside; spadix sessile; slender, acute at apex, 4.5 - 7.7 cm long, broadest at the middle of the staminate portion, constricted scarcely or not al all above the sterile staminate portion; pistillate portion while, 2.5 cm long, 4.5 mm diam. midway, 3.5-4.5 mm diam. at apex and at base; staminate portion 3 - 5.2 cm long; sterile staminate portion cream, 3-4 mm diam.; pistils white; ovary 4 - 5-locular, with ± sub-basal placentation; locules 0.4 mm long, 0.2 - 0.3 mm diam.; ovule sac 0.4 mm long; ovules 1 per locule, contained within translucent or transparent ovule sac, 0.2 - 0.3 mm long; funicle 0.1 - 0.2 mm long (can be pulled tree to base), style similar to style type B; style apex flat; stigma subdiscoid, unlobed, ± truncate, 0.4 - 0.5 mm diam., 0.1 mm high, covering center of style apex; the androecium margins irregularly 4 - 6-sided, 0.6-1.2 mm long. INFRUCTESCENCE peduncle, 8 cm long, 1 cm diam.