Anthurium solanoi Croat & O.Ortiz, 2016

Ortiz, Orlando O. & Croat, Thomas B., 2016, New Species of Anthurium section Calomystrium from Costa Rica and Panama, Phytotaxa 257 (1), pp. 34-50 : 44

Anthurium solanoi Croat & O.Ortiz , sp. nov. ( Fig. 6 )

Species characterized by its epiphytic habit, short internodes, short dark brown intact cataphylls, terete dark brown-drying petioles, narrowly ovate-sagittate dark brown-drying scarcely bicolorous blades with 5 pairs of basal veins, the first pair of which are free to the base, a spathulate sinus, collective veins arising from the first pair of basal veins, 4 pairs of primary lateral veins, dark-dotted lower blade surfaces as well as by the long-pedunculate inflorescence, weakly angular peduncle, green spreading lanceolate spathe, cylindroid-tapered spadix and red infructescences.

Type: — PANAMÁ. Bocas del Toro: Changuinola. PILA, márgenes de la quebrada Yobo, afluente del río Urí, 1452 m, 9°03’25”N, 82°42’23”W, 16 abril 2008, Daniel Solano & Alejandro De Sedas 5381 (holotype, PMA!).

Epiphytic herb; internodes short, 1.5–2.0 cm diam.; cataphylls 7–13 cm long, persisting dark brown and intact. Leaves 80.5 cm long with blades directed in the same direction as the petioles; petioles terete, 33.5 cm, drying 3 mm diam., to 5 mm diam. midway, geniculum 3 cm long, slightly thicker and darker than petiole; blades narrowly ovate-sagittate, 33.5 × 18.8 cm, 1.8 times longer than broad, broadest 6–7 cm above petiolar plexus, prominently lobed at base, drying dark gray-brown and matte above, dark brown and weakly glossy below; sinus spathulate, 6.5 cm deep, 2.8 cm wide; basal veins 5 pairs, 1 st pair free to the base, 2 nd pair fused 6–15 mm, 3 rd pair fused 1.7–2.0 cm; midrib weakly raised above, narrowly rounded and slightly darker below; primary lateral veins 5–6 pairs, arising at 55° angle, narrowly rounded and darker below; collective veins arising from 1 st pair of basal veins, moderately loop-connected to primary lateral veins, 7–10 mm from margins; upper surface eglandular, densely granular, sparsely short pale-lineate; lower surface drying smooth densely and minutely dark-speckled, weakly moderately densely dark-dotted. Inflorescence 77.5 cm long, long-pedunculate; peduncle 82.5 cm long, weakly angular, drying dark brown; spathe green, 9.3 × 1.7 cm, erect-spreading; spadix cylindroid-tapered, red, weakly stipitate (ca. 2 mm), 14 cm long, 1.2 cm diam., post-anthesis, and dark brown on drying; flowers 5–6 visible in the principal spiral, 1.8–2.2 mm long and wide; tepals granular; lateral tepals 1.0– 1.4 mm wide, inner margins broadly rounded on inner margins, 2-sided on outer margins. Berries not seen.

Eponymy:— The species is named in honor of Costa Rican botanist Daniel Solano, who along with Alejandro De Sedas collected the type specimen.

Distribution:— Anthurium solanoi is endemic to Panama, known only from Bocas del Toro, Panama.

Habitat and Ecology:— According to the classification of life zones proposed by Holdridge et al. (1971), Anthurium solanoi grows in a Lower montane rain forest life zone, at 1452 m. According to label information of the holotype, this species grows in the forest edges dominated by emergent trees of Ficus crassiuscula Warburg ex Standley (1917: 12) , Cedrela tonduzii Casimir de Candolle (1905: 427) , Ulmus mexicana Planchon (1873: 156) and Quercus Linnaeus (1753: 994) .

Phenology:— April. Further investigations are required to determine exact flowering and fruiting time.

Conservation status:— According IUCN Red List criteria ( IUCN 2001), Anthurium solanoi should be listed as Data Deficient (DD).

Discussion:— Anthurium solanoi could be confused with A. curvispadix , but the latter species has leaf blades ovate-triangular to broadly ovate which lack any dark punctations on the lower surface (vs. narrowly ovate-sagittate blades densely and minutely dark-speckled and weakly moderately densely dark-dotted on the lower surface), sinus hippocrepiform (vs. spathulate sinus), inflorescences with longer spathes (13–24 cm long) versus spathes shorter (9.3 cm long) and cream-colored spadix (vs. red spadix).

In the Lucid Anthurium Key ( Haigh et al. 2009) A. solanoi tracks to A. delannayi Croat (in Croat et al. 2010: 77), differing by having narrower leaf blades, 1.9–2.6 times longer than broad, dark brown-drying with a narrower sinus (vs. broader leaf blades, to 1.8 times longer than broad, drying dark gray-brown with a spathulate sinus) and inflorescences with whitish spadix (vs. reddish spadix); to A. esmeraldense Sodiro (1905: 337) , differing by its much broader 10–19 × 4–6 cm spathe (versus narrower 9.3 × 1.7 cm spathe) and white spadix (vs. red spadix); to A. fusiforme , differing by its prominently fusiform (vs. cylindroid-tapered) and shorter 6–9 cm long spadix (versus spadix longer 14 cm long); A. kamemotoanum , differing by having a broad 6.5–8.0 × 4–5 cm reddish spathe (versus narrower 9.3 × 1.7 cm green spathe); to A. limonense Grayum (1997: 32) , differing by having grayish drying blades with a short peduncle, to 7.5 cm long (vs. drying dark gray-brown blades with peduncle longer, to 82.5 cm long); to A. recavum Croat (in Croat et al. 2010: 99), differing by its very prominently quilted primary lateral veins, shorter 19–40 cm long peduncle (versus peduncles longer, 82.5 cm long) and purplish spathe (vs. green spathe); to A. sanctifidense , differing by its much paler brown-drying leaf blades (vs. drying dark gray-brown blades), shorter 7–36 cm long peduncle (versus peduncle longer 82.5 cm long) and a more nearly cylindroid creamy-white spadix (vs. cylindroid-tapered reddish spadix) and to A. yarumalense Engler (1898: 441) , differing by its parabolic sinus (vs. sinus spathulate) and the peduncle shorter than the petioles.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Anthurium solanoi Croat & O. Ortiz. Holotype specimen: Panama. Bocas del Toro: Changuinola. PILA, márgenes de la quebrada Yobo, afluente del río Urí, 1452 m, 9°03’25”N, 82°42’23”W, 16 abril 2008, Daniel Solano & Alejandro De Sedas 5381 (Photo MO Herbarium).