PHILODENDRON COTONENSE

PROTOLOGUE: Philodendron cotonense , published in Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 84: 423 (1997).

Philodendron cotonense Croat & Grayum, sp. nov.

Planta plerumque hemiepiphytica; internodia 1–3 cm longa, 2.5–3 cm diam.; cataphylla 18–31 cm longa, incostata vel acute 1-costata, decidua intacta; petiolus subteretes, 17.5–53.5 cm longus, 5–8 mm diam.; lamina anguste ovato-triangularis, 23–45 cm longa, 11.5–20.5 cm lata; inflorescentia 1–2; pedunculus (6.5)10–17.5 cm longus, spatha 11–17 cm longa; lamina spathae extus dilute viridi vel cremeoflava vel alba, intus pallide viridi vel eburnea vel alba; tubo spathae extus atriviridi vel viridi, intus marronino vel carmesino pallide rubroviolaceo aut atripurpureo; pistilla 5–6-locularia; loculi 4–5-ovulatii; baccae vivide aurantiacae.

TYPE: Panama. Chiriquí: vic. of El Hato del Volcán, at Las Lagunas, 3 mi. from Nueva California, 1.7 mi. past new airstrip, 1380 m, 8°46′N, 82°40′W, 17 Sep. 1987, Croat 67708 (holotype, MO-3584981; isotypes, AAU, B, CAS, CM, COL, CR, DUKE, F, K, L, G, NY, OOM, PMA, QCA, RSA, SAR, TEX, U, US, VEN).

DISTRIBUTION: E. Costa Rica to W. Panama: Costa Rica, Panama.

DISTRIBUTION NOTE: iNaturalist: Chiriquí, Puntarenas.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION:

Hemiepiphytic vine or sometimes terrestrial; stem appressed-climbing but with ends often divergent, fertile to at least 5 m; leaf scars conspicuous, 1–1.3 cm long, 1.2–1.3 cm wide; internodes terete, semiglossy, sometimes matte, drying irregularly ridged, 1–3 cm long, 2.5–3 cm diam., usually broader than long, green, soon becoming gray to silvery-gray, drying yellowish brown, epidermis sometimes flaking free; roots short, stubby, light-colored at tips; cataphylls 18–31 cm long, unribbed to sharply 1-ribbed, yellow-green to green, promptly deciduous intact; petioles 17.5–53.5 cm long (averaging 34.4 cm long), 5–8 mm diam., subterete, weakly spongy, dark green, obtusely flattened, especially toward the apex adaxially, with abaxial margins broadly rounded, surface pale greenish lineate, semiglossy; blades narrowly ovate-triangular, subcoriaceous, usually gradually acuminate at apex (the acumen 1–3.5 cm long), prominently lobed at base, 23–45 cm long (averaging 35 cm long), 11.5–20.5 cm wide (averaging 15 cm wide), (0.7–1.4 times as long as petiole), broadest near point of petiole attachment, moderately bicolorous to almost concolorous, upper surface drying dark brown to dark olive-green, semiglossy, lower surface weakly glossy, usually yellow-brown, sometimes yellow-green; anterior lobe 16–31 cm long, margins weakly convex to flat or concave; posterior lobes 6–16.5 cm long, 3–8 cm wide, broadest at or near the middle, sometimes narrower at point of petiole attachment; sinus parabolic to obovate or almost oblong, 5–7.5 cm deep; midrib flat to weakly sunken, concolorous to paler than surface above, convex, paler than surface, often tinged purple (with coloration continuing onto petiole apex) below; basal veins 3–4 per side, the first often free to base (sometimes all free to base), the second and third coalesced 1–2.5(4.5) cm; posterior rib usually not naked except sometimes for up to 5 mm at the base; primary lateral veins (3)4–5(6) per side, departing midrib at a 30–65° angle (70–90° angle near base), weakly curved to the margins, sometimes drying undulate, often prominently downturned at midrib, sometimes tinged purplish, scarcely to weakly sunken above, narrowly raised below; minor veins obscure to clearly visible, arising from both the midrib and primary lateral veins, close and almost indistinguishable from the secretory canals, secretory canals appearing as intermittent lines, usually more prominently downturned at the midrib and appearing to cross over the minor veins, drying blackened.

INFLORESCENCE:

INFLORESCENCES 1–2 (usually solitary, sometimes 2) per axil; peduncle (6.5)10–17.5 cm long, subterete, pale-striate; spathe 11–17 cm long (0.94–1.6 times longer than peduncle), somewhat constricted above the tube; spathe blade light green to cream-yellow to white outside, pale green to cream-white to white inside; spathe tube dark to medium green, sometimes pale striate-lineate outside, 3–5.5 cm long, 1.3–2 cm diam., maroon to crimson pale red-violet or dark purple inside; spadix sessile, (6.7)10.5–16.5 cm long; pistillate portion green, cylindrical to ovoid, 2 cm long, 4–7 mm diam.; staminate portion 4.2–7.1 cm long; fertile staminate portion to 5 mm diam. throughout; sterile staminate portion whitish to cream-white, to 5 mm diam.; pistils 0.9 mm long; ovary 5–6-locular, 0.6 mm diam., with sub-basal placentation; ovules 4 or 5 per locule, arranged digitately, <0.1 mm long, longer than funicle; funicle <0.1 mm long, style 0.9 mm long, 0.5 mm diam., similar to style type C; style apex flat, drying with 5–6 depressions alternating with ribs from a raised center; stigma hemispherical, inserted on stylar funnel; the androecium irregularly 3–6-sided; thecae ovate to cylindrical; sterile staminate flowers 0.8 mm long. INFRUCTESCENCE with berries bright orange; seeds drying pale yellow-brown, narrowly ellipsoid, 1.3–1.5 mm long, 0.6–0.7 mm diam., with weak striations, appendages absent. JUVENILE plants with petioles 4.7–7.7 cm long; blades lanceolate (acumen 6.5–10.5 cm long), 1.7–2.5 cm wide.

ECOLOGY:

Found in eastern Costa Rica and western Panama, in Premontane wet forest, Premontane rain forest, Tropical Lower Montane wet forest, and Tropical Lower Montane rain forest, and in the transition zone between these zones, at 1100–1950 m elevation.

ETYMOLOGY:

Although the protologue does not explicitly explain the name, the epithet cotonense evidently derives from Cotón (the Río Cotón), a place name recurring across the species’ Costa Rica–Panama border range in the Cordillera de Talamanca; the Latin suffix-ense means “of” or “belonging to” that place.

NOTES:

1. Philodendron cotonense is a member of Philodendron sect. Calostigma subsect. Glossophyllum ser. Ovata. This species is characterized by having internodes usually longer than broad (except distally), subterete petioles, and more or less triangular blades averaging over twice as long as broad, with posterior lobes typically much longer than broad and often directed somewhat outward. Also characteristic are the conspicuous secretory canals visible on the dried blade surface and the solitary long-pedunculate inflorescences in each leaf axil.

2. Philodendron cotonense is most easily confused with Philodendron wilburii var. longipedunculatum, which differs in having longer and more slender internodes (3–8 cm long and 8–15(20) mm diam.); sharply 2-ribbed cataphylls; and more typically hastate leaves ranging from 1.03 to 1.4 (averaging 1.29) times longer than wide, with proportionately narrower lobes directed outward at a broader angle (averaging 91° vs. 121° for Philodendron cotonense). Philodendron wilburii var. longipedunculatum also differs in having mostly two inflorescences per axil with proportionately much longer peduncles, averaging 1.35 times longer than the spathe, versus rarely longer than the spathe in Philodendron cotonense.

3. Philodendron cotonense might be confused with smaller plants of Philodendron alticola, which also have secretory canals visible on the blades. The latter species differs in typically having much larger blades (minimum 44 × 21 cm) that dry greener and thicker; persistent cataphyll fibers; and a short-pedunculate inflorescence with the spathe usually not at all constricted. Noteworthy is Davidse et al. 28367, which has a narrower sinus and the basal veins all free to the base with the uppermost primary lateral veins more or less obscure; otherwise, it fits well into Philodendron cotonense.

4. Flowering in Philodendron cotonense has been recorded in both Costa Rica and Panama during June, and post-anthesis or early fruiting collections have been made from July through December, except October. Mature fruits have been collected only in March; however, several post-anthesis collections have also been made during March, indicating perhaps a bimodal flowering period, though too few data are available to be certain.

REFERENCES:

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

2. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 84: 423 (1997) — protologue.

3. iNaturalist: Philodendron cotonense

Additional photos from iNaturalist by nickrope, rudymaex, Marcel Esquivel and Randall Jiménez