PHILODENDRON CONSOBRINUM
PROTOLOGUE: Philodendron consobrinum , published in Phytologia 60: 314 (1986). The protologue is reproduced below.
DISTRIBUTION: Venezuela (Táchira): Venezuela.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Translated from protologue: Climbing herb to 8 m. Stem 2.4–2.6 cm in diameter, bare. Cataphyll 32 cm long, caducous. Petiole terete, (34–)40–54 cm long, 1 cm thick at the middle, green, dark purple on the lower side near the apex, the sheathing part 3.5–6 cm long. Leaf blade parchment-like to semi-leathery but brittle, ovate in outline, 33–47 cm long, 22–32 cm wide, cordate at the base, the posterior lobes semicircular (usually one lobe 1–2 cm longer than the other), separated by a narrowly parabolic (rarely spathulate) sinus 6.5–10 cm deep; apex more or less obtuse, the tip itself acuminate (1–2 cm); midrib on the upper side 0.7–0.9 cm wide near the base, the stronger veins sulcate; primary lateral veins from the midrib 4–5 on each side, departing at an angle of 55–65°; principal veins 3–4 in each posterior lobe.
INFLORESCENCE:
Translated from protologue: Inflorescences four together. Peduncle 5 cm long. Spathe 9 cm long, the tube 4.3 × 1.8 cm, brownish red outside with a cream-colored margin 0.3 cm wide, the limb greenish cream; inside, the tube somewhat wine-colored, the limb cream-colored. Spadix 1.8 cm shorter than the spathe, stipitate, the stipe 0.2 cm long at the back and 0.5–0.7 cm long in front; the spadix 6.7 cm long, the pistillate part 3.9 cm long, the staminate part 2.8 cm long. Pistillate flowers with a (4–)5–6-locular ovary, the locules 1–2-ovulate, the ovules attached near the base. Staminate flowers 5–3-androus. Infructescence with a peduncle 6 cm long, the spathe 9.7 cm long, its tube 5.5 × 2 cm, the pistillate part of the spadix 7.7 × 2.2 cm. Berries greenish cream, truncate-concave at the apex, 0.6 × 0.4 cm.
ECOLOGY:
Found in open forest between Villa Páez and Betania, Junín District, Táchira State, Venezuela, at 2050–2350 m.
ETYMOLOGY:
The original description does not explain the name. Consobrinum is the Latin adjective for “cousin” (a maternal cousin); such epithets are conventionally used in Philodendron to flag close resemblance to, or historical confusion with, an allied species, though this specific rationale is not stated in the protologue.
NOTES:
1. Placed by its author in Philodendron section Oligospermium Engl.; the protologue compares it with no other species.
2. The collector’s field notes on the type describe a climber some 8 m up a tree, with a clean green stem with a silvery coating; a pale green cataphyll with a yellow cast, paling at the margin and white inside; a terete petiole, dark violet near the apex on the lower side; a flat, firm, brittle blade held in nearly the same plane as the petiole, rich green above and yellow-edged, the midrib slightly convex and 7(–9) mm wide near the base, the larger veins sulcate; inflorescences four together; the spathe tube maroon outside with a 3 mm-wide cream border, the limb creamy with a slight greenish cast and 1.9 cm longer than the spadix (the Latin description gives this difference as 1.8 cm), the tube light wine-colored inside and the limb cream; and a maturing infructescence greenish cream.
3. The type, Bunting 4951, was collected in October 1975; the holotype is at NY, with isotypes at K, MO and VEN.
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Philodendron consobrinum
2. Phytologia 60: 314 (1986) — protologue.