PHILODENDRON BORGESII
PROTOLOGUE: Philodendron borgesii , published in Phytologia 60: 310 (1986). The protologue is reproduced below.
DISTRIBUTION: Venezuela (Táchira): Venezuela.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Translated from protologue: Climbing herb. Stem up to 3 m long, 4 cm in diameter, the internodes 3.5–5.5 cm long. Cataphyll thick, 21–40 cm long, pale green, suffused with rose above the middle, soon becoming ragged and gradually shed. Petiole robust, spongy, strongly swollen in juvenile plants, terete, up to 78 cm long, 1.5 cm thick toward the apex and 2 cm thick below, the sheathed portion 6–8.7 cm long. Leaf blade subcoriaceous, broadly ovate in outline, 47–68 cm long and 38–53 cm wide, cordate at the base with the posterior lobes rounded or obtusely angled, each lobe 14–25 cm wide and separated by a spathulate or obovate sinus 14–20 cm deep, obtuse at the apex with the tip itself acuminate (1.0–1.5 cm), glossy on both surfaces; adaxially the midrib flat, the primary lateral veins channeled, 5–7 on each side and arising at an angle of 55–58°, with stout veins departing 2–3 on each side from each basal rib, the basal ribs naked in the sinus for 3.2–5.4 cm.
INFLORESCENCE:
Translated from protologue: Inflorescences three together. Peduncle up to 13 cm long. Spathe 17.5 cm long, the tube 9.5 × 3.8 cm, green outside, the limb greenish white, within intensely wine-red throughout (at least in the tube). Spadix up to 16 cm long, sessile, yet the axis naked in front for 1 cm. Pistillate flowers with the ovary 8–9-locular, the ovules 3–5 in each locule and inserted above the base. Staminate flowers (from the base to the apex of the spadix) 6–4(–3)-androus. Infructescence 9.8 × 2.5 cm. Berries 0.4–0.5 cm long, truncate at the apex, cream-colored, the seeds ellipsoid, 1.4 × 0.65 mm, smooth, yellowish brown.
ECOLOGY:
Found in humid montane evergreen forest at ca. 1,100 m.
ETYMOLOGY:
Named in honor of Julio Gustavo Borges M., a naturalist and professor from Palmira, Táchira State; the holotype was collected by George S. Bunting and Gustavo Borges M. The Latinized epithet borgesii means “of Borges.”
NOTES:
1. Pertains to section Oligospermium Engl. Philodendron borgesii superficially resembles Philodendron grandifolium (Jacq.) Schott, but there are many differences.
2. Type locality: along the road from San Cristóbal toward Chorro del Indio, Caño Seco and La Florida, between km 11 and 25 east of San Cristóbal (0–14 km east of Chorro del Indio), San Cristóbal District, Táchira State, Venezuela, at 1,100–1,150 m.³
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Philodendron borgesii
2. Phytologia 60: 310 (1986) — protologue.
3. Phytologia 61: 443 (1987) — the author's erratum to the type data.