Syngonium hoffmannii Schott

Ortiz, Orlando Oriel, de Stapf, María Sánchez, Baldini, Riccardo Maria & Croat, Thomas Bernard, 2019, Synopsis of aroids (Alismatales, Araceae) from Cerro Pirre (Darién Province, Panama), Check List 15 (4), pp. 651-689 : 685-686

Syngonium hoffmannii Schott ( Fig. 6E)

Material examined. Middle slopes on W side of Cerro Pirre; 07°57′N, 077°46′W; 550–760 m; 28 Jun. 1988; T. B. Croat 68892 ( MO). Vicinity Cerro Pirre, along trail from base camp to Rancho Frío on slopes of Cerro Pirre; 07°58′N, 077°43′W; 200–450 m; 27 Jul. 1994; T. B. Croat 77150 ( MO). Summit of Cerro Pirre, cloud forest; 07°55′21″N, 077°42′57″W; 1000–1400 m; 29 Dec. 1972; A. H. Gentry 7027 ( MO). Parque Nacional Darién, Serranía de Pirre, Rancho Plástico; 07°58′54″N, 077°42′30″W; 1128 m; 31 Jul. 2016; O. O. Ortiz 2655 ( PMA). Ibid., campamento cerca del segundo mirador; 07°59′43″N, 077°42′39″W; 708 m; 3 Dec. 2016; O. O. Ortiz 2710 ( PMA).

Identification. Syngonium hoffmannii is characterized by its nomadic vine life form, vegetative parts frequently glaucous, milky sap; consistently trifoliolate leaves with three to eight pairs of primary lateral veins in the central leaflet, reddish when dry; few inflorescences (one to two) per node with reddish or purplish spathe tubes internally. This species differs from the rest of the species of the genus present on Cerro Pirre by having brown-reddish blades when dry and primary lateral veins emerging from the midrib at an angle of more than 35° (see couplet 62 of the key).

Distribution and ecology. Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. This species grows throughout the Cerro Pirre elevation gradient, at 200–1400 m.