SCINDAPSUS LATIFOLIUS
PROTOLOGUE: Scindapsus latifolius , published in Acta Phytotaxonomica et Geobotanica 22: 3 (1966).
Scindapsus latifolius M.Hotta, sp. nov. Type: Sarawak, Bintulu, about 4 km east of Minah camp, 17 October 1963, M. Hotta 14067 (holotype KYO).
DISTRIBUTION: NW. Borneo: Borneo.
DISTRIBUTION NOTE: Malaysia: Sarawak Brunei: Temburong.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Translated from protologue: A robust herb with an epigeal stem 5–20 m high and 2.5–3 cm thick. Petiole of the adult plant 45–50 cm long, clasping the stem at the base, gradually narrowed upward, channeled above, with a geniculum 2–3 cm long at the apex, the sheath fibrous with the fibers falling; blade oblong, leathery when dry, base rounded and slightly cordate, apex acute, green above, glaucescent beneath, 50–55 cm long and 25–28 cm wide, with about 40 distinct primary lateral veins on each side spreading from the midrib at an angle of 50–60° and ascending in a slight arc toward the margin, 6–8 subparallel secondary veins between the primaries, and numerous tertiary veins joined in a network between the primaries and secondaries.²
INFLORESCENCE:
Translated from protologue: Peduncle short, about 9 cm long and 1.5 cm thick. Spathe rather thick, cylindric, rounded at the apex, about 26 cm long and 3.5 cm in diameter, yellow. Spadix shortly (1 cm) stipitate, cylindric, rounded at the apex, 24 cm long and 2.2 cm thick in flower. Pistils prismatic, 7–8 mm long, compressed and 2 mm thick at the base, at the apex four- or six-angled, subtruncate and 2.5–3 mm wide, crowned by a rounded sessile stigma.²
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin latus, "broad," and folium, "leaf," for the oblong blade 50–55 cm long and 25–28 cm wide.²
NOTES:
1. Hotta wrote that the species is closely related to Scindapsus splendidus, formerly known only from Sumatra and newly added by him to the Bornean flora, and differs from it by the distinct primary lateral veins, the smaller leaves and the larger spathe and spadix; it also has a close affinity to Epipremnum giganteum in the large leathery blade, the large yellowish spathe and the ovary shape, the two differing in the number of ovules, and he suggested that these three species form a natural group within the Monstereae.²
2. A second collection, Hotta 15294, came from along the Sungai Payau at the foot of Gunung Mulu in March 1964.²
3. In a collection from Bukit Patoi in Temburong District, Brunei (Boyce 351), the whole apical region of the stem, the recently matured leaves and the emerging and newly opened inflorescences were densely covered with exposed, double-ended, needle-like trichosclereids 1–1.5 cm long, released from the disintegrating petiolar sheaths, cataphylls and prophylls, and presenting a formidable deterrent to handling; Boyce suggested that they act both as a physical barrier and, judging by the severity of the stings, as vectors for irritant chemicals, and noted that Scindapsus crassipes, Scindapsus longipes, Scindapsus pictus and Scindapsus rupestris, whose sheaths do not disintegrate so swiftly, showed nothing of the kind.⁴
4. Boyce singles out Scindapsus latifolius, with the Sumatran Scindapsus splendidus and Scindapsus roseus, as very similar in appearance to the entire-leaved species of Epipremnum; apart from field experience, only the inflorescences or, better, semi-mature infructescences separate them, Scindapsus having fruits with a solitary curved seed, although Epipremnum ceramense and Epipremnum falcifolium habitually abort all but one ovule.⁵
5. Boyce and Wong cite Scindapsus latifolius as the example of the colossal high-climbing primary hemiepiphytes in a genus that also holds almost shrubby secondary hemiepiphytes and perching litter-trapping epiphytes; they estimate that the genus may have as many as 60 species, about half of them still undescribed, and stress that there is no modern account of it.⁶
STORY:
STORY TITLE: A climber armed with needles
Every member of the Monstereae carries trichosclereids, needle-like cells buried in its tissues; tear a leaf and the hairs protrude from the damaged edge. In 1993 Peter Boyce reported something not previously described. A plant of Scindapsus latifolius collected on Bukit Patoi in Temburong, Brunei, had the whole apical region of its stem, the recently matured leaves and the emerging inflorescences densely covered with exposed, double-ended needles 1 to 1.5 cm long. They had been released from the disintegrating petiolar sheaths, cataphylls and prophylls, and they made handling the plant a formidable business. Boyce suggested two roles, a physical barrier and, judging by the severity of the stings, a vector for irritant chemicals, and noted that the other Scindapsus he had collected, Scindapsus crassipes, Scindapsus longipes, Scindapsus pictus and Scindapsus rupestris, whose sheaths do not fall apart so quickly, showed nothing of the kind.⁴
The species itself is one of the giants of the genus. Mitsuru Hotta described it in 1966 from a plant collected near Minah camp in the Bintulu district of Sarawak in October 1963: an epigeal stem 5 to 20 m high and 2.5 to 3 cm thick, petioles 45 to 50 cm long with fibrous sheaths whose fibers fall away, oblong blades 50 to 55 cm long and 25 to 28 cm wide, a yellow spathe about 26 cm long and a flowering spadix 24 cm long. Hotta placed it closest to the Sumatran Scindapsus splendidus, which he had just added to the Bornean flora, and remarked on its close affinity to Epipremnum giganteum, from which only the number of ovules separates it; he thought the three might form a natural group within the tribe.²
That resemblance is the practical problem with the plant. Boyce wrote in 1998 that Scindapsus latifolius, Scindapsus splendidus and Scindapsus roseus look so like the entire-leaved species of Epipremnum that, short of field experience, only inflorescences or half-ripe infructescences will separate them, Scindapsus having a single curved seed in each fruit, and even that test is weakened by Epipremnum species that habitually abort all but one ovule. The Compendium of Malesian aroid genera cites the species as the exemplar of the colossal high-climbing primary hemiepiphytes within a genus that also holds almost shrubby secondary hemiepiphytes and perching litter-trapping epiphytes, and observes that there is no modern account of Scindapsus at all.⁵,⁶
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Scindapsus latifolius
2. Acta Phytotaxonomica et Geobotanica 22: 3 (1966) — protologue.
3. iNaturalist: Scindapsus latifolius
6. Boyce & Wong 2015. Compendium Genera Aracearum Malesianum. Aroideana 38E(1): 40–177
Additional photo by Peter C. Boyce, from the International Aroid Society
Additional photos from iNaturalist by Foo Chuan Wei, mdoliveira, Oliver Ingold and Ryan E. Gray