PHILODENDRON ALLIODORUM

PROTOLOGUE: Philodendron alliodorum , published in Phytologia 73: 30 (1992).

Philodendron alliodorum Croat & Grayum, sp. nov.

Plantae fruticosae scandentes usque ad minimum 10 m altae; petioli 5.6–13.6 cm longi vagina involuta marginibus scariosis fragilibusque; laminae anguste vel late ellipticae aut lanceolatae vel oblanceolatae 13.4–32.2 cm longae ca. 2.0–3.5 plo longiores quam breviores valde inaequilaterales nervis lateralibus utroque latere 10–14 in sicco brunneolis vel rubellis; fructus maturi noctu alliodori.

TYPE: COSTA RICA. San José: western part of Montañas Jamaica, ca. 3 km NE of Bijagual de Turrubares, Carara reserve, 9° 45.5' N, 84° 33' W, 500–600 m, 7 Aug. 1985, M.H. Grayum, R. Warner, J.C. French, & P. Sleeper 5857 (HOLOTYPE: MO-3446392!; Isotypes: BM,CR,NY,US).

DISTRIBUTION: Nicaragua to Ecuador: Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Panama.

DISTRIBUTION NOTE: iNaturalist: Limón.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION:

Shrubby, much branched, rigidly clambering plants, ascending to at least 10 m on tree trunks, the fertile branches divergent. Internodes drying stramineous to midbrown, the epidermis slightly to moderately brittle and flaky; nodal roots absent, except on juvenile shoots. Petiole 5.6–13.6 cm long, the sheath involute with the edges brownish, dry and cracking, the unsheathed portion obsolete or to 0.3(–0.5) cm long. Lamina in life thinly coriaceous to subcoriaceous, semiglossy to glossy both sides, narrowly to broadly elliptical to lanceolate or oblanceolate, markedly inequilateral, gradually to abruptly acuminate apically, narrowly to broadly cuneate or (more rarely) truncate to rounded basally, 13.4–32.2 cm long, 3.2–14.0 cm wide; primary lateral veins 10–14 per side. Bracteoles absent.

INFLORESCENCE:

Inflorescences solitary, very rarely paired; peduncle subterete, with pale, short lineations, (0.6–)1.1–3.5 cm long (to at least 4.4 cm in fruit); spathe at anthesis externally green and often whitish lineolate below, paler (greenish white to cream) distally, often with pale whitish spots, internally uniformly whitish, 6.8–15.0 cm long, 1.4–3.6(–4.1) cm wide. Spadix 5.9–12.3 cm long, the fertile male portion cream colored, 0.6–1.2 cm wide; sterile male zone 0.7–1.2 cm long; female portion of spadix 1.1–4.3 cm long (to at least 8.3 cm in fruit), 0.50–1.25 cm wide (to at least 2.1 cm in fruit), pale green or yellowish; fertile male flowers 0.8–1.7 mm long, 0.6–2.0 mm wide, irregularly polygonal; sterile male flowers 1.2–2.3 mm long, 0.7–1.7 mm wide, cuboidal to claviform; female flowers 1.3–2.1 mm long, 0.5–0.9 mm wide, the stylar canals 4–5. Ripe fruits very pale yellowish orange (ochroleucous), emitting a pronounced garlicky odor at night. Seeds straight to somewhat (or occasionally strongly) curved, twisted or spindled, finely striate with the striae cancellate, (0.7–)0.9–1.0 mm long, ca. 0.2 mm wide.

ETYMOLOGY:

The protologue states that the epithet derives from the pronounced garlicky odor emitted by the ripe fruits; the Latin diagnosis closes with this character (fructus maturi noctu alliodori, “mature fruits garlic-scented at night”).

STORY:

STORY TITLE: The philodendron whose fruits smell of garlic at night

When Thomas Croat and Michael Grayum described this climber in 1992, they built the name around a single unmistakable trait. As its ripe, very pale yellowish orange fruits mature, they release a pronounced garlicky odor after dark — a scent characteristic enough that the pair made it the closing line of the Latin diagnosis and the root of the epithet alliodorum.²

A rigidly clambering, much-branched shrub that ascends at least 10 m up tree trunks, Philodendron alliodorum belongs to subgenus Pteromischum and ranges from Nicaragua south to Ecuador. The plant that anchors the name was gathered in 1985 in the Carara reserve of Costa Rica’s San José province.²

REFERENCES:

1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Philodendron alliodorum

2. Phytologia 73: 30 (1992) — protologue.

3. iNaturalist: Philodendron alliodorum

Additional photos by David Scherberich

Additional photos from iNaturalist by njweess and LostInCR