PHILODENDRON CRASSINERVIUM
PROTOLOGUE: Philodendron crassinervium , published in Edwards's botanical register 23: (1837).
Philodendron crassinervium Lindl., sp. nov.
Philodendron crassinervium; foliis lanceolatis acuminatis costa crassissima inflata, spatha obtusa cucullata apiculata spadicis longitudine.
Type: a cultivated plant, native of Brazil, figured from a specimen supplied by the Rev. Frederick Beadon of North Stoneham, received in December 1836.
SYNONYMS:
HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS: Arum lanceolatum (Schott) Vell.; Caladium platynervium Kunth; Philodendron lanceolatum Schott; Philodendron planinervium K.Koch ex Schott
DISTRIBUTION: SE. Brazil (to Paraná): Brazil South, Brazil Southeast.
DISTRIBUTION NOTE: iNaturalist: Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, São Paulo.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Translated from protologue: Leaves lanceolate, acuminate, with a very thick, swollen midrib.
INFLORESCENCE:
Translated from protologue: The spathe is obtuse, cucullate, and apiculate, as long as the spadix. The spadix is male at the tip, female at the base, and neuter in the very middle. The male flowers are naked, four-stamened; the stamens very thick, truncate, bearing on their outer face two separate, parallel, pollen-lined grooves that dehisce along a longitudinal slit, at first two-celled, later becoming confluent. The neuter flowers consist of bodies similar to the stamens but larger, less densely arranged, and lacking pollen. The female flowers are naked; the ovary truncate, somewhat four-angled, 5–7-loculed, with several ovules in each locule attached to the axis; the stigma cushion-shaped, glutinous, undivided, entirely bare.
ECOLOGY:
Found on rocks, in soil, or as a low climber on trees in Atlantic coastal restinga forest in southeastern Brazil. The type plant itself was raised in cultivation in England from material received from Brazil in December 1836.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin crassus, "thick," and nervus, "nerve" or "rib," referring to the leaf's very thick, swollen midrib — the feature Lindley's plate highlighted with the English common name it gave the plant, "Thick-ribbed Philodendron."
NOTES:
1. The protologue distinguishes this species from a similarly named, unrelated plant, noting that "Pothos crassinervia is a very different plant."
2. The accompanying plate illustrates the anther in inside and outside view, a cross-section showing its four cells in pairs, the ovary, and a longitudinal section of the ovary showing the position of the ovules and the form of the stigma.
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Philodendron crassinervium
2. Edwards's botanical register 23: (1837) — protologue.
3. iNaturalist: Philodendron crassinervium
Additional photos from iNaturalist by Marcos Mortara, Fabrício Mil Homens Riella, filipeprates, Eduardo Dalabeneta, Nelson Wisnik, Fabricio Carvalho da Silva, Gabriel Silva Guimarães, Ariane Pereira, Diego Monsores, Eric Fischer Rempe and Elton John de Lírio