PHILODENDRON BAUDOENSE
PROTOLOGUE: Philodendron baudoense , published in Novon 18: 429 (2008).
Philodendron baudoense Croat & D. C. Bay, sp. nov. TYPE: Colombia. Valle: Buenaventura–Málaga rd., Bajo Calima region, Km 17.5, 6.5 km NW of Pulpapel facility, 130 m, 11 July 1993, T. B. Croat & D. C. Bay 75645 (holotype, MO-04575188; isotypes, B, COL, CUVC, K, US).
Planta hemiepiphytica aut terrestris; internodia 3–16 cm longa, 6–20 mm diam., in sicco canoviridia; cataphylla 6–15 cm longa, acute 2-costata, decidua intacta. Folia patentia vel reflexo-patentia; petiolus adaxialiter obtuse complanatus, 5.5–14(–23) cm longus, 5–8 mm diam. in sicco; lamina elliptica usque obovata, subcordata, 25–43.5 cm longa, 7–14 cm lata. Inflorescentia solitaria; pedunculus 1.5–8 cm longus; spatha 7–18 cm longa. Pistilla ca. 2.4 mm longa; ovarium 5- vel 6-loculare, loculis 1-ovulatis.
DISTRIBUTION: Colombia: Colombia.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Hemiepiphytic or terrestrial; stem appressed-climbing or scandent; internodes matte to weakly glossy, 3–16 × 6–20 mm, longer than broad, medium green to gray to light brown, drying gray-green, epidermis light tan, loose and cracking, drying with epidermis flaking off exposing olive-green stem underneath; roots several per node, drying reddish brown, epidermis flaky; cataphylls 6–15 cm, sharply 2-ribbed, rounded at apex, soft, medium green, drying light tan to medium olive-green, deciduous. LEAVES spreading to reflexed-spreading; petioles 5.5–14(–23) cm × 5–8 mm (dry), obtusely flattened adaxially, broadly rounded abaxially, medium green, moderately spongy, dark green-lineate, drying medium olive-green; blades obovate to elliptic, subcoriaceous, acuminate at apex, subcordate at base, 25–43.5(–66) × 7–14(–24) cm, (2.7–)3–4.1× longer than wide, (1.9–)3.6–5.8(–7.8)× longer than petiole, broadest at or beyond middle, adaxial surface semiglossy, medium green to yellow-green, drying dull medium to dark olive-green, abaxial surface matte, paler, drying dull and paler; anterior lobe 25–42(–64) × 7–14(–24) cm, 7.8–25(–58)× longer than posterior lobe; posterior lobe 7–40 mm × 1.2–5 cm, rounded; sinus V-shaped to hippocrepiform, 4–26 mm deep; midrib broadly convex at base becoming narrowly convex at apex and paler than blade, narrowly rounded abaxially, drying darker than blade on both surfaces; basal veins 3 pairs per side, all free to base, drying lighter than blade adaxially, darker than blade abaxially; primary lateral veins 5 to 13 per side, 3–5 cm apart, departing midrib at 40°–50° angles, sharply downturned at midrib, curving upward to margins, drying lighter than blade adaxially, darker than blade abaxially; interprimary veins departing from the primary lateral veins near the base but otherwise mostly from the midrib, drying concolorous adaxially, darker than blade abaxially; minor veins obscurely visible.
INFLORESCENCE:
INFLORESCENCE erect, solitary; peduncle 1.5–8 cm, shorter than petiole, medium green, drying dark olive-green; spathe 7–18 cm, barely constricted; spathe blade 6–8 cm, outside white, inside pale green with orange resin canals in upper 2/3; spathe tube 5–7 cm, pale to light green, outside minutely speckled, inside red-violet to dark burgundy in basal 1/3; spadix cylindrical, 9–12 cm; pistillate portion 2.5–4.5 cm × 5–10 mm (dry); staminate portion slightly clavate, 6.5–8 cm × 8–10 mm at widest point (dry); sterile staminate portion 8–15 × 5–7 mm (dry), narrower than pistillate or fertile staminate portion; pistils ca. 2.4 mm; ovary 5- to 6-locular, ovules with basal placentation, 1 per locule; sterile staminate flowers unknown. INFRUCTESCENCE unknown. JUVENILE PLANTS differ in having a deeply sulcate petiole and blades rounded or barely cordulate, drying pale green.
ECOLOGY:
Found on the western slopes of the Cordillera Occidental in Colombia's Chocó and Valle departments, in Tropical wet forest and Tropical rain forest transitioning to Premontane life zones, from sea level to 920 m elevation, in primary forest, older regrowth forest, or on steep rocky road banks.
ETYMOLOGY:
Named for the Serranía de Baudó, a low mountain range in the Colombian department of Chocó and one of the first places this species was collected, as stated directly in the protologue.
NOTES:
1. The species is a member of subgenus Philodendron, section Macrobelium (Schott) Sakuragui, subsection Glossophyllum (Schott) Croat, series Glossophyllum, and is characterized by its scandent habit, long gray-green internodes that dry with a very flaky pale epidermis, and sharply 2-ribbed deciduous cataphylls. It also has leaf blades that are usually elliptic to obovate and subcordate, with a midrib that is much broader at the base and narrows toward the apex. The primary lateral veins are distinctive because they are widely spaced and curve upward quickly. The inflorescence is solitary, barely constricted, pale green at the base, and white at the apex.
2. Philodendron baudoense can be confused with Philodendron ligulatum Schott (ranging along the Atlantic slopes from Nicaragua to Panama to the Colombian departments of Antioquia and Chocó), which differs in having fewer primary lateral veins that depart from the midrib at more obtuse angles, blades that dry dark green, and inflorescences that dry blackened. Another similar species is Philodendron pseudoauriculatum Croat, found in Panama and northern Colombia, which differs in having shorter internodes with a darker tan epidermis that is not as flaky, and which bears two to three inflorescences per axil (compared to solitary inflorescences in Philodendron baudoense) on peduncles generally longer than 8 cm.
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Philodendron baudoense
2. Novon 18: 429 (2008) — protologue.