PHILODENDRON ANGUSTISECTUM
PROTOLOGUE: Philodendron angustisectum , published in Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie 26: 549 (1899). The protologue is reproduced below.
DISTRIBUTION: Colombia to Bolivia: Bolivia, Colombia.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Translated from protologue: Stem internodes rather long. Leaf petiole shortly sheathed, terete, succulent, longer than the blade; blade broadly ovate in outline, its basal sinus, in the adult plant, very open, pinnately divided, the divisions 8 to 16 per side, nearly all linear and acute, the uppermost slightly falcate, the middle and upper ones separated by narrow sinuses, the lower ones more united, the lowest, nearest the sinus, gradually much shorter; primary lateral veins rather stout, 4 to 6 of the lowest divisions joined to the posterior ribs. Stems stout, up to 1.3 m long. Petiole of the larger leaves about 5 dm long, 1.5 cm thick at the base; blade up to 5–6 dm long, 4 dm wide, succulent, the middle divisions up to 2.5 dm long and 2.5–3 cm wide, the lower and uppermost ones much shorter.
INFLORESCENCE:
Translated from protologue: Peduncle short; spathe green, purplish brown within, oblong-lanceolate, slightly constricted at the middle; spadix somewhat shorter than the spathe, its pistillate portion cylindric and about as long as the staminate portion but more slender; ovaries oblong-cylindric, mostly 6-loculed, crowned by a slightly 6-lobed stigma, the locules with few ovules near the base. Peduncles 3–4 cm long, together with the 8 cm long spathe shorter than the cataphylls. Pistillate portion of the spadix about 4 cm long, 5 mm thick; staminate portion 4.5 cm long, 5 mm thick.
ECOLOGY:
Found in Colombia (Cauca), terrestrial and often epiphytic, on the Belalcázar ridge at 1200–1800 m elevation, and among rocks along the Río Buga at 1000 m.
ETYMOLOGY:
The protologue does not explicitly explain the epithet, but angustisectum clearly derives from the Latin angustus, “narrow,” and sectus, “cut” or “divided,” referring to the leaf blade’s narrow, linear pinnate divisions, most of which are described as linear and acutely pointed.
NOTES:
1. The juvenile state of this species may be Philodendron elegans Hort., which has leaves oblong-ovate to ovate in outline with 6 to 7 divisions per side, the middle divisions 1–1.5 dm long.
2. Tom Croat, who had seen the type of Philodendron angustisectum, stated on December 9th, 2002 that the type is definitely Philodendron radiatum.⁴
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Philodendron angustisectum
2. Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie 26: 549 (1899) — protologue.
3. iNaturalist: Philodendron angustisectum
4. Aroid-L mailing list, Tom Croat, December 9th, 2002
Additional photos from iNaturalist by Luis Alejandro Quintero Bernal