SYNGONIUM HOFFMANNII
PROTOLOGUE: Syngonium hoffmannii , published in Oesterreichische Botanische Zeitschrift 8: 178 (1858). The protologue is reproduced below.
SYNONYMS:
HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS: Porphyrospatha hoffmannii (Schott) Engl.
DISTRIBUTION: Honduras to Panama: Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama.
DISTRIBUTION NOTE: Costa Rica: Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limón, Puntarenas, San José Honduras: Santa Bárbara, Yoro Nicaragua: Boaco, Estelí, Granada, Matagalpa, North Caribbean Coast, Rivas, South Caribbean Coast Panama: Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí, Coclé, Colón (Panama), Darién, Herrera, Panamá Province, Veraguas.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Nomadic vine; juvenile plants with glaucous stems; internodes 1–4 cm long, 3–6 mm diam.; petioles sheathed 1/2–2/3 their length; blades sagittate, 4–13 cm long, medium green or with grayish white midrib and primary lateral veins (fide Birdsey, 1955), all the major veins sunken above, raised beneath, the anterior lobe 4–18 cm long, ovate-deltoid, slightly or not at all constricted at the base, acute to acuminate and apiculate at the apex, the posterior lobes 2.5–9.0 cm long, acute to acuminate at the apex; intermediate leaves with the lateral lobes only slightly inequilateral or very inequilateral but lacking a conspicuous, protruded auricle. Adult plants with stems sometimes glaucous, usually 1–2 cm diam.; internodes weakly sulcate above the petioles, 1.5–10.0 cm long on flowering branches, olive-green, drying brown, flaky, often weakly and rather sparsely muricate. Leaves with petioles sometimes glaucous, paler than the stems, 12–33 cm long, sheathed 2/3–4/5 their length, subterete above the sheath, somewhat flattened laterally, sharply to bluntly 1-ribbed adaxially; blades trisect (or rarely sub-5-sect); leaflets free to confluent, 9–28 cm long, 3.5–11.0 cm wide, the upper surface medium green, semiglossy, the lower surface only slightly paler; median leaflet oblong-elliptic to ovateoblong or lanceolate, equal or more frequently unequal, acuminate at the apex, obtuse to acute or attenuate at the base; lateral leaflets 6–24 cm long, 2–8 cm wide, very unequal, acute on the inner margin at the base, usually prominently auriculate on the outer margin at the base, the auricles directed downward and in line with the leaflet or directed somewhat outward, usually ± parallel with the petiole, strongly to not at all pinched off from the leaflet (rarely appearing as another leaflet); primary lateral veins 5–10 per side, sunken on the upper surface, raised beneath, the minor veins obscure on the upper surface.⁴
INFLORESCENCE:
Inflorescences usually 1–3 (less frequently to 4 in Panama) per axil; peduncle sometimes glaucous (commonly glaucous at higher elevations), 3–9 cm long and erect at anthesis, 6–13 cm long and pendent in fruit; spathe tube broadly ovoid to ovoid-ellipsoid, dark green outside, becoming tinged with purple in age, red to violet-purple within, 4.0–4.5 cm long, 2.0–2.5 cm diam.; spathe blade broadly ovate, greenish white to white, cuspidate at the apex, 5.5–8.0 cm long, 4.8–5.5 cm wide; pistillate portion of the spadix greenish, 2.0–2.5 cm long, tapered gradually toward the apex, 1.2–1.6 cm diam., the flowers 2-carpellate, the stigma 2-lobed, circular, the syncarp 3–4 mm diam. at the apex; staminate portion of the spadix white, 5.5–9.0 cm long, 1.4–1.7 cm diam., broadest at about the middle, only slightly constricted at the point of merger with the sterile staminate flowers, then slightly broader toward the base, the fertile staminate flowers regularly to irregularly 4-lobed, the sterile staminate flowers slightly larger, irregular, closely compacted. Infructescences usually oblong-ellipsoid (sometimes ellipsoid), green heavily tinged with purple or sometimes yellowish (fide herbarium labels), 6–10 cm long, 3.0–4.5 cm wide; syncarp white, to 5.5 cm long and 3.5 cm diam. Flowers have been found in March, May, and December. Fruits are most common from July to September but have been seen immature from December to August.⁴
ECOLOGY:
It occurs in Lower montane rain forest, Premontane rain forest and Tropical wet forest life zones. It has also been collected, though much less frequently, in Premontane wet forest life zones.⁴
ETYMOLOGY:
Named for Carl Hoffmann (1823–1859), the German physician and naturalist who collected in Costa Rica from 1854 until his death. Schott's original description records that Hoffmann found the plant at Candelaria, Alto de Santa Cruz, and the type is Hoffmann's collection of 1857.²
NOTES:
1. The species is a member of section Syngonium and is characterized by its frequently glaucous stems, petioles sheathed 2/3–4/5 their length, trisect (or rarely sub-5-sect) blades with leaflets free to confluent, the lateral leaflets usually prominently auriculate on the outer margin at the base, the auricles directed downward, 5–10 primary lateral veins per side, usually 1–3 inflorescences per axil with the spathe tube red to violet-purple within. The species is an extremely variable one and might eventually prove to consist of more than one element. Altitudinal range is particularly great ranging from 300 m to 1800 m. The greatest differences are exhibited in the degree of lobing of the lateral leaflets, in the shape and coloration of the infructescences, and in the degree to which petioles and inflorescences are glaucous. More Costa Rican and Panamanian collections at higher elevations were reported to have glaucous parts. The species might be confused in Costa Rica with Syngonium wendlandii which has similar leaves. See that species for a discussion of the differences. ⁴
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Syngonium hoffmannii
2. Oesterreichische Botanische Zeitschrift 8: 178 (1858) — protologue.
3. iNaturalist: Syngonium hoffmannii
Additional photos from iNaturalist by nickrope and Carlos G Velazco-Macias