PHILODENDRON ALATUM
PROTOLOGUE: Philodendron alatum , published in Nova Genera ac Species Plantarum quas in Regno Chilensi Peruviano 3: 87 (1845). The protologue is reproduced below.
DISTRIBUTION: Peru: Peru.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Translated from protologue: Stem climbing very high, rooting, often 3 inches thick, dark green, smooth. The branch apex 1 inch in diameter, cylindrical, made up of the fleshy bases of the sheathing petioles, succulent, herbaceous. Leaves erect. Petiole semiterete, flattened in front, striate, as thick as a goose quill, 15–20 inches long, girt with a linear, membranous wing that is interrupted and obcordate below the blade, there half an inch wide, gradually widening toward the base and finally passing into a sheath. Leaf blade somewhat ovate at the base, very slightly and repand-cordate, 8–9 inches wide, opaque on both surfaces; midrib strongly prominent on both sides, broad and flat; lateral nerves arcuate from near the midrib, confluent at the outermost margin, alternating with more slender veinlets.
INFLORESCENCE:
Translated from protologue: Spathe usually solitary, continuous with a scarcely distinguishable peduncle, terete, as thick as a finger, erect, swollen at the middle, tapered at both ends, acuminate at the apex, convolute except at the very tip, fleshy, yellowish-green. Spadix exactly conical from the base upward, nowhere interrupted, acute. Anthers 5-, 6-, or 7-angled, yet equilateral, innumerable, covering three parts of the spadix. Ovaries pentagonal, about 15-locular. Ovules numerous, attached to the axis at various heights. Stigma sessile, with a membranous margin projecting beyond the apex of the ovary. Berry red, filled with very many, minute, linear, cylindrical seeds.
ECOLOGY:
Found in the sub-Andean forests of Peru, near Cuchero, flowering in September.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin alatus, “winged,” referring to the conspicuously winged petiole, which is very broadly linear-winged and about equal in length to the blade. The original description does not state the name’s meaning, but the diagnosis singles out this feature above all others.
NOTES:
1. Type locality: Cuchero, in the sub-Andean forests of Peru, where the species grew and flowered in September.
2. The species was drawn as a very large illustration made from the living plant, but no spathe was preserved in the herbarium.
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Philodendron alatum
2. Nova Genera ac Species Plantarum quas in Regno Chilensi Peruviano 3: 87 (1845) — protologue.