Anthurium filamatamaense 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 : 36-38

Anthurium filamatamaense Croat & O.Ortiz , sp. nov. ( Fig. 1 )

Species characterized by its epiphytic habit, moderately long stems, short internodes, semi-persistent cataphylls, terete dark brown-drying petioles, ovate-sagittate dark brown-drying prominently long-acuminate blades with a narrowly hippocrepiform sinus, 6 pairs of basal veins, 1 pair of which is free to the base, a moderately curved slender posterior rib which is naked throughout its length, 3 pairs of primary lateral veins, collective veins arising from the third pair of basal veins and extending to the apex close to the margins as well as by the moderately long-pedunculate inflorescence with an erect white to weakly lavender spathe and a lavender cylindroid spadix.

Type: — COSTA RICA. Limón: Parque Nacional La Amistad, Cuenca de Estrella. Limón, Valle de la Estrella , Fila Matama , cerca de 11 km SW de pueblo de Aguas Zarcas, bosque nuboso primario, 1300–1400 m, 9°48’07”N, 83°10’39”W, 28 October 2007, D. Santamaría, A. Monro, D. Solano, M. Moraga, A. Rodríguez & B. Gamboa R. 6663 (holotype, MO!; isotype, INB) .

Epiphytic; internodes short, ca. 1 cm, ca. 1.5 cm diam.; cataphylls persisting semi-intact, dark brown decaying to light brown parallel fibers. Leaves with petioles 71 cm long, 4.0 mm diam. midway, broadly and acutely sulcate, drying dark brown, matte; petiolar sheath 13 × 2 cm; geniculum 2.5 cm long, darker than petiole; blades ovate-sagittate, 44 × 28 cm, widest ca. 4 cm above petiolar plexus, abruptly caudate-acuminate (acumen 2.5 cm long), 1.6 longer than wide, 0.6 as long as petiole, thinly coriaceous, drying dark brown above and somewhat paler below, weakly glossy above and semi-glossy below; upper surface pale short-lineate; lower surface weakly and moderately dark-dotted; anterior lobe 31.5 cm long, margin convex; posterior lobes 12.5–14.0 × 10.0 cm, lobes turned somewhat inward; mibrib narrowly raised above, narrowly rounded with a very pronounced medial ridge below, concolorous above, slightly darker below; primary lateral veins 3–4 pairs, arising at a 46–60º angle, narrowly raised and sometimes in sunken valleys above, narrowly raised below; tertiary veins slightly raised above, more prominently raised below, concolorous above and below; collective veins arising from the 3 rd pair of basal veins, 1.5–2.0 mm from margin; antimarginal veins present; basal veins 6 pairs, first pair free to base the remainder coalesced to 5 cm, the second pair branching off at 0.5 cm, the third pair branching at 2 cm, the fourth at 4 cm, the fifth and sixth branching at 5 cm, narrowly rounded with a prominent medial rib on the upper surface, becoming narrowly raised in the lower veins on lower surface; posterior ribs 5 cm long, entirely naked, strongly and smoothly curved for entire length; sinus hippocrepiform, 12 cm deep. Inflorescence erect; peduncle 20 cm long, 3 mm diam. midway, noticeably tapered, significantly shorter than petiole, drying broadly and acutely sulcate, mid reddish-brown, matte; 2.4 longer than spathe; spathe 8.5 × 2.5 cm, oblanceolate, papyraceous, erect, white to weakly lavender, drying to mid reddish-brown; spadix sub-sessile (stipe ca. 2 mm), 4.5 cm long, 0.8 cm diam., cylindrical, lavender, drying mid reddish-brown; flowers 7 visible in the principal spiral, drying 1.3 mm long and wide; tepals minutely granular on drying; lateral tepals 1 mm wide, the inner margin rounded, outer margins 3-sided; stamens not exserted. Berries not seen.

Eponymy:— The species is named for the type locality on Fila Matama in the Valle de la Estrella in Limón Province of Costa Rica.

Distribution:— This species is known only from the type locality in Limón Province.

Habitat and Ecology:— Anthurium filamatamense grows at 1300–1400 m in a Premontane rainforest life zone according to the classification of zones proposed by Holdridge et al. (1971).

Phenology:— Flowering in October. Further investigations are required to determine exact flowering and fruiting seasons.

Conservation status:— According to the IUCN List (2001), Anthurium filamatamaense is considered as Data Deficient (DD).

Discussion:— Anthurium filamatamaense is probably closest to A. churchilleorum Croat (in Croat et al. 2013: 36) which shares a similar blade shape with a long-acuminate apex, but the latter species differs by having leaf blades with a narrowly parabolic sinus (vs. sinus hippocrepiform for A. filamatamense ), drying dark green to slightly lighter green (vs. dark brown), the upper surface densely and conspicular granular and more densely short pale-lineate, a more conspicuously glandular-punctate lower surface, basal veins with posterior rib 1.0 cm long (vs. 5 cm long) as well as by its maroon spadix (vs. lavender spadix).

Anthurium filamatamaense is also similar to A. formosum which differs in being a much more robust plant, having many persistent intact cataphylls (vs. with persisting semi-intact cataphylls for A. filamatamaense ), blades prominently granular on both surfaces as well as by having usually 2–3 pairs of basal veins free to the base (vs. 1 pairs of basal veins free to the base).

Another species in the region of the type in adjacent Panama that is similar is Anthurium kareniae Croat (in Croat et al. 2013: 47), which differs by having light brown-drying leaves (vs. dark brown) with closed sinus, 2 pairs of free basal veins (vs. 1 pairs of basal veins free to the base) and collective veins arising from the 1 st pair of basal veins (vs. collective veins arising from the 3 rd pair basal veins).

In the Lucid Anthurium Key ( Haigh et al. 2009) A. filamatamense tracks to A. huixtlense which ranges from Mexico to Nicaragua which differs by having shortly acuminate blades (vs. abruptly caudate acuminate blades for A. filamatamense ) with the collective vein arising from one of the lowermost primary lateral veins or from the first basal vein (vs. collective veins arising from the 3 rd pair basal veins); A. kamemotoanum Croat (1986: 120) which differs by having blades with the collective veins arising from the 1 st pair of basal veins (vs. collective veins arising from the 3 rd pair basal veins), inflorescences with prominently naviculare spathe (vs. oblanceolate spathe) and red-violet spadix at anthesis (vs. lavander spadix) and A. obtusilobum which differs by having a pale green to white spreading to reflexed oblong-elliptic spathe (vs. a white to weakly lavender erect oblanceolate spathe) and cream-colored spadix at anthesis (vs. lavender spadix).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Anthurium filamatamaense Croat & O. Ortiz. Holotype specimen: Costa Rica. Limón: Parque Nacional La Amistad, Cuenca de Estrella. Limón, Valle de la Estrella, Fila Matama, cerca de 11 km SW de pueblo de Aguas Zarcas, bosque nuboso primario, 1300–1400 m, 9°48’07”N, 83°10’39”W, 28 October 2007, D. Santamaría, A. Monro, D. Solano, M. Moraga, A. Rodríguez & B. Gamboa R. 6663 (Photo MO Herbarium).