Syngonium podophyllum 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 : 686

Syngonium podophyllum Schott ( Fig. 6D)

Material examined. Parque Nacional Cerro Pirre, vicin- ity of station along Río Perisenico; 08°01′N, 077°44′W; 110 m; 26 Jul. 1994; T. B. Croat 77113 ( MO). Vicinity Cerro Pirre, 17 km S of El Real, along trail from base camp, along Río Perisenico; 08°01′N, 077°44′W; 100 m; 28 Jul. 1994; T. B. Croat 77182 ( MO), Parque Nacional Darién, Cerro Pirre, Rancho Frío; 08°01′16″N, 077°44′04″W; 103 m; 13 Apr. 2016; O. O. Ortiz 2540 ( PMA). Ibid., orillas del río Perresenico; 08°01′15″N, 077°43′58″W; 260 m; 1 Dec. 2016; O. O. Ortiz 2696 ( PMA).

Identification. Syngonium podophyllum represents a species with high morphological diversity ( Croat 1981). This species is characterized by its nomadic vine life form, milky sap, elongated and slender internodes (on Cerro Pirre), trifoliolated to five-foliolated compound leaves, lateral leaflets with the auricles truncated to sagittate or hastate lobed; inflorescences up to eight per node, spathes with greenish tubes and whitish blades, spadices creamybrown in the female portion, creamy-white in the sterile portion, whitish in the male portion and brownish syncarps. On Cerro Pirre, this species can be confused with Syngonium sp. 1 , which differs fundamentally in having the unsheathed portion of the petiole larger than petiole sheaths and the lateral segments of the lamina auriculate, obovate, oblong to elliptically lobed at base.

Distribution and ecology. Greater Antilles, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, French Guiana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, USA, and Venezuela. This species of wide distribution ocurrs in semideciduous and evergreen forests of Cerro Pirre, at 90– 800 m. It is very common in open areas, along trails, and near the banks of rivers and streams.