PHILODENDRON CIPOENSE
PROTOLOGUE: Philodendron cipoense , published in Kew Bulletin 52: 674 (1997).
Philodendron cipoense Sakuragui & Mayo sp. nov. Philodendron pachyphyllo K. Krause similis sed nervis lateralibus interprimariis distinctis pagina inferiore proeminentibus, spadicis zona feminina 2.5–4 cm longa, ovaria (6–)8-locularia, loculis 3–4-ovulatis differt (in Philodendron pachyphyllo nervi laterales interprimarii pauci neque proeminentes, spadicis zona feminina 4–5 cm longa, ovaria 6-locularia, locula 1–3 ovulata). Typus: Brazil, Minas Gerais, Mayo et al. 701 (holotypus SPF, isotypus K).
DISTRIBUTION: Brazil (Minas Gerais: Serra de Espinhaço): Brazil Southeast.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Arborescent, sprawling or decumbent herb, 40–70 cm tall, rooting into rock crevices. Stem: internodes gray, 1–2 cm long, up to 5 cm thick; intravaginal squamules sometimes persistent, slender, purplish-red, 0.8–1 mm long, triangular; foliage leaf scars pale gray, 1.5–2 × 2–2.5 cm, elongate-obovate. Leaves clustered at stem apex: prophyll glaucous green, usually with purplish-red margin, 9–21 × 2–3 cm, narrowly triangular; petiole 13–40 cm long, glaucous green, ± terete, sheath 4–4.5 cm long, usually with purple margin; blade 24–41 × 19–36 cm, pendent from erect to suberect petiole, broadly cordate to subsagittate, coriaceous, often conduplicate, adaxial surface dark, glossy green with fine venation etched into surface, abaxial surface pale green, apex obtuse to rounded, margin purplish-red (best seen in new leaves), anterior division 13–30 × 19–36 cm, primary lateral veins 5–6 on each side, interprimary veins well-developed and prominent on lower surface, posterior divisions 6–12 × 7–10 cm.
INFLORESCENCE:
Inflorescences 1–2 per floral sympodium; peduncle 3.5–5.5 cm long; spathe at anthesis 13–16 × 1.5–2 cm, naviculate, only very weakly constricted: tube externally glaucous green to yellowish-green, internally purplish-red, blade externally yellow to yellow-green, internally purplish-red fading to whitish-green at apex and margins; spadix 8–13 cm long, male zone 5.5–8 cm long, sterile zone 0.8–1.5 cm long, female zone yellow-green, 2.5–4 cm long. Flowers: stamens 1.3–2 × 0.9–1.2 mm, rectangular-prismatic, triangular in cross-section; staminodes 2–2.5 × 1.4–2 mm, rectangular-prismatic; gynoecium 1.6–2 × 1–2.3 mm, broadly ovoid, ovary 0.9–1.2 mm long, locules (6–)8 per ovary, ovules 3–4 per locule, placenta subbasal, stigma 0.8–1 mm wide, centrally depressed. Fruit: not seen.
ECOLOGY:
Found epilithic in campo rupestre vegetation, frequently fully exposed to the sun, rooting into rock crevices; altitude 1060–1360 m.
ETYMOLOGY:
The epithet refers to the locality, Serra do Cipó, in Minas Gerais, Brazil, where the species was first recognized. The Latinized epithet cipoense means “of Cipó” or “from the Serra do Cipó.”
NOTES:
1. Philodendron cipoense may be distinguished from Philodendron pachyphyllum K. Krause as follows: a) leaf blade darker green on upper surface with interprimary veins more numerous and strongly prominent on lower surface (interprimary veins few and barely evident on lower surface in Philodendron pachyphyllum); b) female spadix zone 2.5–4 cm long (4–5 cm in Philodendron pachyphyllum); c) (6–)8 locules per ovary (6, never 8, in Philodendron pachyphyllum); d) ovules 3–4 per ovary locule (1–3 in Philodendron pachyphyllum). The character differences are small but, in the authors’ view, significant.
2. Philodendron pachyphyllum occurs in campo rupestre vegetation of the Chapada Diamantina of Bahia (e.g., near Lençóis). The two species are both narrowly endemic and almost certainly represent a vicariant pair.
3. Philodendron cipoense is also very similar to Philodendron biribiriense, which has longer internodes (1.5–6 cm, against 1–2 cm in Philodendron cipoense), a glaucescent adaxial leaf surface, less pronounced primary lateral veins and purple gynoecia.
4. Philodendron cipoense, Philodendron biribiriense and Philodendron rhizomatosum have cordate to subsagittate leaves and few-ovulate ovary locules with basal to subbasal placentas, characters that place them in Philodendron subgenus Philodendron section Calostigma (Schott) Pfeiff. Plants cultivated in a lath house at the University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, failed to flower.
STORY:
STORY TITLE: A scent recipe built for an endangered specialist
Philodendron cipoense grows only on rock outcrops in Brazil’s Espinhaço mountain range, a campo rupestre habitat where it is classed as endangered, yet it draws in an unusually broad guild of pollinators: the beetles Cyclocephala atricapilla, Cyclocephala variolosa, Chalepides dilatatus and a species of Erioscelis, all pulled in by the same floral scent.³
That scent is almost entirely three compounds — (Z)-jasmone, 4-vinylanisole and isojasmol together make up 97 percent of what the flowers release — and when researchers set out synthetic (Z)-jasmone alone in the field, it drew in a male of the true pollinator Cyclocephala atricapilla along with Cyclocephala celata, a beetle that visits but does not pollinate, confirming the compound’s pull. Researchers present the finding as a direct tool for planning the species’ conservation.³
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Philodendron cipoense
2. Kew Bulletin 52: 674 (1997) — protologue.
4. iNaturalist: Philodendron cipoense
Additional photos from iNaturalist by Henrique Vilela da Mata Bianchini, AJDeberdt, Marcio Santos Ferreira, Joey Santore, Eduardo Franco, Fernanda Nadal, Juan Linares Perales and Marcos Mortara