PHILODENDRON AMPULLACEUM
PROTOLOGUE: Philodendron ampullaceum , published in Acta Botanica Venezuelica 10: 289 (1975). The protologue is reproduced below.
DISTRIBUTION: NW. Venezuela: Venezuela.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Translated from protologue: Climbing herb to 3 m long or more. Stem light brown, 3.5–5 cm thick, the internodes 2–8 cm long. Cataphyll soon falling. Petiole subterete, flattened or convex ventrally near the apex, 66–77 cm long and 1.7 cm thick, pale green, broadly sheathing in the lower 6–8 cm, the wing on the wider side 1.4 cm wide. Leaf blade reflexed, subcoriaceous but fragile, ovate in outline, cordate-sagittate at the base, acuminate and recurved at the apex, 47–63 cm long and 30–38 cm wide, the margin undulate; posterior lobes triangular-oblong, rounded or broadly obtuse at the apex, 10–17 cm long, separated by a narrowly suboblong to linear sinus, with about 3 primary lateral veins on each side joined downward into a posterior rib; primary lateral veins of the midrib about 6(–7) on each side, spreading at 55°–75° and arching toward the margin, with a single secondary vein between each pair; blade dark green and glossy adaxially, the midrib paler green, flat or moderately convex, 1.2 cm wide, the primary and secondary veins sunken, the posterior ribs concave and never naked at the base; pale green abaxially, the midrib angular-convex, the primary and secondary veins strong.
INFLORESCENCE:
Translated from protologue: Inflorescences four to six together. Peduncle 7–8 cm long and ca. 1 cm thick, pale green. Spathe fusiform (not divided into a tube and a blade), mucronate at the apex, to 7 cm long and 2.1 cm in diameter, green inside and out. Spadix 1.5 cm shorter than the spathe, 3.7 cm long, shortly stipitate, the stipe 0.2 cm long behind and 0.7–0.8 cm long in front, and 0.8 cm thick; pistillate part more or less cylindrical, 2.2 cm long and 1.2 cm in diameter; staminate part ovoid, obtuse at the apex, 1.5 cm long and 1–2.5 cm in diameter. Later the spadix is 5–6 cm long, the pistillate part 4–4.6 cm long and 2.25 cm in diameter, and the staminate part persistent. Pistillate flowers truly flask-shaped, ca. 0.3 cm long and 0.18–0.2 cm in diameter, the ovary ca. 0.15 cm long and 9–11-locular, with 2(–1) ovules in each locule attached near the base. Berries more or less globose-obovoid with a contracted style, dull pale green, glossy and subtranslucent, 0.35 cm long and 0.32 cm in diameter, ca. 10-seeded. Seed ovoid, yellowish and pale-dotted, ca. 0.17 cm long.
ECOLOGY:
Found as a large climber on tree trunks in the mountains above the village of Toronjal, Táchira; the species is recorded from Táchira at 1,800–2,000 m.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin ampullaceus, “flask-shaped,” from ampulla, a small flask or bottle. Although the original description does not explicitly explain the name, it describes the pistillate flowers as ampullaceous, which is likely the feature the epithet refers to.
NOTES:
1. Philodendron ampullaceum is characterized by 3–6 inflorescences per axil, with short, green, ellipsoid spathes, and by a pistillate portion of the spadix equal to or longer than the staminate portion. The pistillate flowers have elongate styles.
2. Type locality: Venezuela, Táchira, Rubio–Las Delicias road, in the mountains above Aldea de Toronjal, 19 km above Diamante. No elevation is recorded for the type collection.
3. The protologue prints the stipe thickness as “0.8–0.8 cm” and gives the later spadix length as “5–6” with no unit; the description above reads these as 0.8 cm and 5–6 cm.
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Philodendron ampullaceum
2. Acta Botanica Venezuelica 10: 289 (1975) — protologue.
3. Croat, T.B. & Lambert, N. 1986. The Araceae of Venezuela. Aroideana 9: 3–213