PHILODENDRON CRASSUM

PROTOLOGUE: Philodendron crassum , published in Journal of Botany, British and Foreign 39: 277 (1901).

Philodendron crassum Rendle, sp. nov.

Herba caudice brevi crasso procumbente; foliis confertis, petiolo laminae vix aequante, crassissimo, subfusiformi subtereti, facie autem superiore paulo concavo cum aciebus marginalibus brevibus; lamina elliptico-ovata ad subellipticam, apice apiculata, supra nitida, costa apicem versus cito evanescente, nervis lateralibus subaequalibus ascendentibus; pedunculo dimidium spathae vix superante; spatha suboblonga obtusa ad basin evoluta, intus e fundo purpurea, superne albida; spadice spatham aequante, parte foeminea masculam dimidiam partem subaequante, parte mascula sterili quam feminea breviore, staminodiis ovaria excedentibus indivisis clavatis; ovariis plurilocularibus, ovulis paucis, stigmatibus late capitatis; staminibus ovaria excedentibus.

Type: no herbarium type designated; described from a cultivated plant in the collection of A. H. Smee at Hackbridge, Surrey, received some years earlier from General Macdonnell ex Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — the precise wild locality unrecorded, presumed to be near Rio de Janeiro.

DISTRIBUTION: Brazil (Rio de Janeiro): Brazil Southeast.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION:

A plant with the habit of Philodendron cannifolium Mart. The adult leaves have a leaf-stalk 22–23 cm long, with the greatest thickness 4.2 cm about one-third of the distance above the base, narrowing to about 1.6 cm just below the blade; the shallowly concave upper surface reaches 3 cm in width at the thickest part, and is bounded by low, subacute edges. The blade reaches 36 cm in length by 17 cm in width below the middle, and shows no pre-eminent secondary veins. The petiole has a spongy internal structure, with the intercellular spaces lined with mucilage.

INFLORESCENCE:

The spathe is 13.5 cm long by 4 cm broad; the female area of the spadix 4 cm long, the male 7.5 cm, including a sterile portion of 2.5 cm; the ovary 2 mm long, the stamens 2.5 mm by 1.5 mm broad across the top.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin crassus, "thick," referring to the plant's thick, fleshy petiole and short, stout stem, both emphasized in the protologue's diagnosis ("caudice... crasso," "petiolo... crassissimo").

NOTES:

1. The species is most nearly allied to Philodendron cannifolium, but is distinguished by its more shortly stalked, elliptic-ovate leaves, which show, moreover, no pre-eminent secondary veins.

REFERENCES:

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

2. Journal of Botany, British and Foreign 39: 277 (1901) — protologue.