PHILODENDRON COPENSE

PROTOLOGUE: Philodendron copense , published in Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 84: 420 (1997).

Philodendron copense Croat, sp. nov.

Planta hemiepiphytica; internodia 1.5–2.5 cm longa; 2–7 cm diam.; cataphylla 7–25 cm longa, plerumque 1-costata, in sicco flavibrunnea vel atribrunnea, persistentia semi-intacta; petiolus acute D-formatus, 53–109 cm longus, 8–20 mm diam., epidermide interdum dense brevi-lineata, in sicco atriflavibrunneus; lamina ovato-triangularis, cordata, 56–84.5 cm longa, 22–47 cm lata, in sicco rubrobrunnea; inflorescentia usque 6; pedunculus 7–7.5 cm longus, 7–15 mm diam.; spatha 13–18.5 cm longa, lamina spathae viridi, tubo spathae viridi, extus suffuso purpureoviolaceo, pallidius secus marginem, intus marronino; pistilla 3–5-locularia; loculi 20–22-ovulati; baccae albae.

Type: Panama. Coclé: Alto Calvario, 6 mi. N of El Copé, Atlantic slope, along Continental Divide, along trail which heads off old lumber road and leads down to Las Ricas, Limón, and San Juan, 710–800 m, 8°39'N, 80°36'W, 22 June 1988, Croat 68765 (holotype, MO-3584056-8; isotypes, AAU, B, CAS, CM, COL, CR, K, PMA, US).

DISTRIBUTION: Panama: Panama.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION:

Hemiepiphytic; stem appressed-climbing, scandent; leaf scars inconspicuous; internodes short, thick, 1.5–2.5 cm long, 2–7 cm diam., broader than long, drying yellow-brown, epidermis moderately glossy, finely and acutely ridged on younger stems, lighter and more matte on older stems; roots drying brown, 15–75 cm long, 1–5 mm diam., numerous per node, epidermis peeling; cataphylls drying chartaceous, 7–25 cm long, usually 1-ribbed, pale red to reddish brown, drying yellowish brown to dark brown, persisting semi-intact as fibers. Leaves erect to erect-spreading; petioles 53–109 cm long, 8–20 mm diam., sharply D-shaped, with a broad medial rib adaxially, surface sometimes densely short-lineate, drying smooth and matte to semiglossy, light reddish brown or dark yellow-brown, the epidermis smooth and often flaking; blades ovate-triangular, moderately bicolorous to concolorous, abruptly acuminate at apex (the acumen (1)1.7–2.5 cm long), cordate at base, 56–84.5 cm long, 22–47 cm wide (1.8–2.7 times longer than wide), (0.77–1.1 times longer than petiole), broadest below the point of petiole attachment, margins broadly undulate, occasionally downturned, upper surface dark green, glossy to semiglossy, drying reddish brown, gray-green or olive-green, matte to weakly semiglossy, lower surface drying semiglossy, yellow-brown to reddish yellow-green; anterior lobe 32–64 cm long, 20–46 cm wide (2.6–3.3 times longer than posterior lobes), broadest at or near base, margins concave; posterior lobes 14.5–21.5 cm long, 22–47 cm wide, broadest at or near base, directed downward and inward to downward and outward, obtuse to semirounded; sinus spathulate to widely hippocrepiform; midrib weakly raised to flat above, thicker than broad, paler than surface, drying concolorous or darker than surface below; basal veins 6–10(15) per side, with 1 free to base, numbers 4–7 coalesced 6–9 cm, prominently raised below; posterior rib naked for 3.5–4 cm; primary lateral veins 11–16 per side, departing midrib at a 55–90° angle, straight to weakly arcuate, drying reddish brown, sunken and paler than surface above, raised, drying slightly darker than surface below; interprimary veins as conspicuous as primary lateral veins; minor veins arising from both the midrib and primary lateral veins; lesser veins drying prominulous; “cross-veins” moderately conspicuous on both surfaces.

INFLORESCENCE:

Inflorescences erect, to 6 per axil; peduncle 7–7.5 cm long, 7–15 mm diam., green, coarsely lineate; spathe coriaceous, 13–18.5 cm long (1.8–2.6 times longer than peduncle), somewhat constricted midway on the tube, acute at apex; spathe blade green, short pale-lineate toward base, striate near apex outside, 10.5 cm long (opening broadly oblong-ovate in face view); spathe tube oblong-ellipsoid, green, tinged purple-violet, paler along the margin outside, 8.5–9 cm long, 3.5 cm diam., maroon, conspicuously short-lineate inside; spadix sessile, oblong, 12.5 cm long, constricted at the base of the fertile staminate portion and tapering at both ends; pistillate portion white, cylindrical to ellipsoid, 6.5–7.5 cm long, 2.2–2.5 cm diam.; staminate portion creamy white, 9 cm long, 9 mm diam. throughout, broadest in the lower one-third; fertile portion 9–11 mm diam.; sterile portion narrower than the pistillate portion, 9–15 mm diam.; pistils 1.9–2.3 mm long, 1.9–2.3 mm diam.; ovary 3–5-locular, drying irregularly angled, walls embedded with granular, crystal-like particles, with axile placentation; ovules 20–22 per locule; style similar to style type B; style apex broadly and shallowly concave; stigma button-like, 0.5–0.7 mm long; sterile staminate flowers 2–2.4 mm long, 1–1.5 mm wide. Infructescence with berries white; seeds 0.8–0.9 mm long, 0.3–0.4 mm diam.

ECOLOGY:

Found in Panama (Bocas del Toro and Coclé provinces), also expected in eastern Costa Rica, at 590–930 m elevation in Premontane rain forest.

ETYMOLOGY:

From El Copé, the town and Coclé Province locality near which the type specimen was collected (the type comes from Alto Calvario, 6 mi. north of El Copé), with the Latin place-name suffix-ense, “belonging to” or “from.”

NOTES:

1. Philodendron copense is a member of Philodendron sect. Philodendron subsect. Platypodium. This species is characterized by its appressed climbing habit; short, thick internodes (2–7 cm diam.); usually one-ribbed cataphylls that persist semi-intact; D-shaped petioles with a flaky, yellow to yellow-brown epidermis on drying; large, ovate-triangular blades drying reddish brown with many conspicuous “cross-veins”; and up to six inflorescences per axil with the spathes green or reddish tinged outside and maroon within on the tube.

2. Philodendron copense is most easily confused with Philodendron brunneicaule, with which it occurs. Though the latter species has blades that dry a similar color, it is distinguished by having long internodes; deciduous cataphylls; petioles that lack the yellow-brown, peeling epidermis; ovate blades that lack the minute “cross-veins” on drying; and stouter inflorescences that are solitary in each axil. Philodendron copense is also similar to Philodendron chiriquense, another species with an ovate-triangular leaf that dries reddish brown. Philodendron chiriquense differs by having much shorter, thicker internodes, conspicuous reddish brown persistent fibers (rather than semi-intact), and dark brown to blackened striate petioles, which lack an exfoliating smooth epidermis.

REFERENCES:

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

2. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 84: 420 (1997) — protologue.

3. iNaturalist: Philodendron copense

Additional photos from iNaturalist by ramon_d and Letizia Weichgrebe