PHILODENDRON BRENESII

PROTOLOGUE: Philodendron brenesii , published in Publications of the Field Museum of Natural History 18: 140 (1937). The protologue is reproduced below.

DISTRIBUTION: Costa Rica to NW. Colombia: Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama.

DISTRIBUTION NOTE: iNaturalist: Alajuela, Cartago, Chiriquí, Guanacaste, Heredia, Puntarenas, San José.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION:

Translated from protologue: A glabrous climbing epiphyte, the stems not seen; petiole apparently terete, 12–28 cm long or more, sheathed at the base for about 3 cm; blade rather thick, subcoriaceous, oblong-ovate, about 35 cm long and 15 cm wide, narrowly and gradually acuminate, deeply cordate at the base, the posterior lobes 5–6.5 cm long and nearly semiorbicular, green above and slightly paler beneath, the midrib thick and raised, 5 mm wide at the base, the primary veins about 11 on each side, pale and raised, the secondary veins numerous and much more slender.

INFLORESCENCE:

Translated from protologue: A complete inflorescence had not been seen.

ECOLOGY:

Found in forest at 1,050–1,100 m elevation.

ETYMOLOGY:

Named in honor of Alberto Manuel Brenes (1870–1948), the Costa Rican botanist and naturalist of San Ramón who collected the type material (Brenes 5110). Although the original description does not state the derivation, the Latinized epithet brenesii means “of Brenes.”

NOTES:

1. Type locality: La Palma de San Ramón, canton of San Ramón, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica, at 1,050–1,100 m, where Alberto Manuel Brenes collected the type (Brenes 5110); the holotype is held in the Herbarium of the Field Museum of Natural History. A second gathering, Brenes 15565, was made between Guachipelín and Volcán de La Vieja.

2. Standley based Philodendron brenesii on incomplete material: the stems were not seen and no complete inflorescence had been collected, so the original account covers only the climbing, glabrous, epiphytic habit and the large, deeply cordate leaves.

REFERENCES:

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

2. Publications of the Field Museum of Natural History 18: 140 (1937) — protologue.

3. iNaturalist: Philodendron brenesii

Additional photos from iNaturalist by jcabarcap, Giovanni Carraro, bugzilla, Carlos Sanchez, susanamasis, Andrey Rojas, cactusauria, Claudio Vargas, Evan Baker, julioali, Lena Zappia and Terry