SYNGONIUM CHIAPENSE

PROTOLOGUE: Syngonium chiapense , published in Revista de la Sociedad Mexicana de Historia Natural 11: 94 (1950). The protologue is reproduced below.

SYNONYMS:

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS: Syngonium llamasii Matuda

DISTRIBUTION: Mexico to Guatemala: Guatemala, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest.

DISTRIBUTION NOTE: Guatemala: Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala Mexico: Chiapas, México State, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Veracruz iNaturalist: Chiapas, Veracruz.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION:

Nomadic vine; juvenile plants with glaucous stems; internodes 5–23 cm long, less than 1 cm wide; petioles sheathed 1/2–3/4 their length, blades ovate-cordate, 9–30 cm long, 5–17 cm wide, acuminate at apex. Adult plants with stems green, usually glaucous; internodes 12–20 cm long, becoming closer at apex, 2–6 cm long, 2.5–4.0 cm diam. Leaves with petioles 30–60 cm long, sheathed about 4/5 their length, subterete above sheath, weakly flattened on upper surface; blades ovate-cordate to 3-lobed, abruptly acuminate to obtuse-mucronate at apex, entire blade with anterior lobe 28–65 cm long, 18–35 cm wide, broadest at about middle, only slightly or not at all constricted at base; posterior lobes rounded or sub-hastate; upper surface matte, seldom weakly glossy, lower surface matte, much paler; sinus very narrow or open and broader than deep; posterior rib sometimes naked 5–20 mm; 3-lobed blades with anterior lobe broadly ovate, 28–52 cm long, abruptly constricted at base and confluent with posterior lobes, the latter ovate to obovate, 10–20 cm long, directed backwards or at ca. 90° angle to anterior lobe, acute to narrowly rounded at apex, bluntly auriculate at base on lower side; primary lateral veins mostly 5–8(10) per side, slightly sunken, convexly raised, tertiary veins clearly visible.⁴

INFLORESCENCE:

Inflorescences 1–3 per axil; peduncle to ca. 10 cm long and erect at anthesis, green and glaucous, 12–18 cm long and pendent in fruit; spathe tube ellipsoid to oblong-ovoid or cylindroid, greenish outside, glaucous, 5–7 cm long, to 3 cm diam. inside, yellowish white at base, purplish at apex; spathe blade broadly elliptic, white, shortly cuspidate at apex, 5–9 cm long, 5–7 cm wide; pistillate portion of spadix 3–4 cm long, ovary ca. 5 mm long, 3 mm wide; staminate portion of spadix ca. 5–9 cm long, to 1.5 cm diam., staminate flowers ca. 3 mm long, anthers 4, cross-shaped. Infructescences usually rather massive, bluish glaucous, more or less ellipsoid, ca. 8–10 cm long, 4.5–5.0 cm diam. Tropical moist forests, Tropical wet forests. Flowers February, April, June-July. Fruits May-July (September).⁴

ECOLOGY:

Syngonium chiapense ranges from Mexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabasco & Veracruz) to Guatemala (Alta Verapaz) at 10–1240(1600) m.⁴

ETYMOLOGY:

Named for the Mexican state of Chiapas, where Eizi Matuda collected the type near Piedra de Huixtla in 1949 while working on his "Flora de Chiapas." The Latinized ending-ense means "from that place."²

NOTES:

1. The species is a member of section Syngonium and is characterized by its usually glaucous stems, moderately elongate internodes, petioles sheathed about 4/5 their length, moderately coriaceous, ovate-cordate to 3-lobed blades, with the anterior lobe broadest at about middle and only slightly or not at all constricted at base with mostly 5–8(10) primary lateral veins per side, 1–3 inflorescences per axil, the spathe greenish and glaucous outside, yellowish white at base, purplish at apex inside as well as by a massive, bluish glaucous, ellipsoid infructescences. The species is probably most easily confused with Syngonium schottianum but that species differs by its non-glaucous stem and a less coriaceous blade that is whitish on the lower surface.⁴

2. Moved in 2023 from section Cordata to section Syngonium, because it may flower with either simple or compound leaves.⁴

REFERENCES:

1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Syngonium chiapense

2. Revista de la Sociedad Mexicana de Historia Natural 11: 94 (1950) — protologue.

3. iNaturalist: Syngonium chiapense

4. Croat 2023. A revision of Syngonium Schott (Araceae-Caladieae) for Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. Aroideana 46(2)

5. Croat 1981. A revision of Syngonium (Araceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 68(4): 565–651

Additional photos by David Scherberich

Additional photos from iNaturalist by Franco Perez, Fátima Isabel Parra Rodríguez, Kiwi Shen, Alexis López Hernández, Jorge Rojas S. and Luis Alberto