Anthurium roseonaviculare 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 : 41-42

Anthurium roseonaviculare Croat & O.Ortiz , sp. nov. ( Figs. 4–5 )

Species characterized by its consistently terrestrial habit, occurring always in open wind-swept areas, short internodes, long intact persistent cataphylls, subterete narrowly sulcate petioles with a maroon geniculum, narrowly ovate-sagittate, semiglossy prominently acuminate blades with a hippocrepiform to closed sinus, 8(9) pairs of basal veins, the first usually free to the base, a moderately curved posterior rib which is naked most of its length, 3–7 pairs of primary lateral veins, collective veins arising from the first pair of basal veins or one of the primary lateral veins and close to the margin, as well as by its long, lanceolate, rosy red spathe and short strongly tapered cream-yellow-colored spadix.

Type: — PANAMÁ. Chiriquí: Distrito Gualaca, Reserva Forestal Fortuna, Sendero en la Quijada del Diablo que va hacia el Río Hornito , 1229 m, 8°41’32”N, 82°13’40”W, 7 Noviembre 2013, Orlando O. Ortiz, Juvenal Batista & Fredy Miranda 1793 (holotype, PMA!; isotypes, FT!, MO!, UCH!) .

Terrestrial herb to ca. 1 m tall; internodes short, to 4 cm diam.; cataphylls to 23 cm long, coriaceous, drying dark brown, matte, persisting intact; petioles 49–69 cm long, narrowly and deeply sulcate, the margins prominently and narrowly raised, medium green, semiglossy; geniculum, 3.5 cm long, dark violet-purple, deeply sulcate with the margins prominently raised; blades narrowly ovate-sagittate, 40–63 × 27–36 cm, 1.4–1.7 times longer than wide, 0.8–0.9 times as long as petioles, prominently acuminate, deeply lobed at base, dark green and semiglossy above, paler and semiglossy below; anterior lobe 31.5–41.0 cm long, broadly rounded on margins; posterior lobes 14.0–19.5 × 9.3–13.5 cm; sinus usually closed with lobes overlapping, then circular to ovate, sometimes hippocrepiform, 5.5–16.7 cm deep, 2.4–3.5 cm wide; basal veins 7–8(9) pairs, 1 st pair usually free to the base, sometimes weakly fused into the posterior lobes; 2 nd pair sometimes free to the base, sometimes fused to 5 mm, 3 rd pair fused 1.5 cm, 4 th pair fused 2.4–4.0 cm, 5 th pair fused to 4.7–5.0 cm; 6 th and 7 th pairs fused to 7–9 cm; posterior rib prominently curved, naked most of its length; midrib narrowly raised above, usually drying more or less acute and concolorous, broadly angular and slightly darker below with a distinct medial rib; primary lateral veins 3–7 pairs, arising at 35–40° angle, narrowly rounded to narrowly raised and acute and concolorous above, acutely raised and darker below; collective veins arising from the first pair of basal veins or one of the primary lateral veins, 2–4 mm from the margin; tertiary veins fine and close but only weakly raised; upper surface sometimes finely granular, lacking short pale lineations or punctations; lower surface finely granular, lacking dark punctations. Inflorescence erect, short-pedunculate; peduncle 2–4 cm long; spathe rosy-red, 16 × 10 cm, ovate-lanceolate, naviculiform, erect, greatly prolonged beyond spadix and enshrouding it, ca. 5 times longer than spadix; spadix cream to creamy yellow, cylindroid-tapered, strongly tapered to a blunt apex, matte, 0.8 cm long, 1 mm diam., 1.5 cm long and 0.6 cm diam. when fresh; flowers 8–11 per spiral; stamens not exserted. Berries not seen.

Eponymy:— The species epithet roseonaviculare is from the Latin “ navicularis ” (boat-shaped) and “ roseolus ” (pink, pale rose) referring to the pink boat-shaped spathe.

Distribution:— This species is endemic to Panama, known only from the type locality in Chiriqui province, Reserva Forestal Fortuna, Panama.

Habitat and Ecology:— The species grows at 1229 m in a Premontane rainforest life zone according to Holdridge et al. (1971). The vegetation of Quijada del Diablo resembles an elfin forest, dominated by small trees of about 6 m high and with many herbaceous species, including other aroid species such as Anthurium formosum , A. obtusilobum and A. lentii Croat & R.A. Baker (1979: 56) .

Phenology:— The specimens examined flowered in November. Further investigations are required to determine exact flowering and fruiting time.

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

Discussion:— By the resemblance of their leaves, Anthurium roseonaviculare appears to be related to A. formosum , a species which differs by its 21–47 cm long peduncles (versus peduncles 2–4 cm long), more broadly ovate-elliptic, whitish-lilac spathes (vs. ovate-lanceolate, naviculiform and rosy-red spathes) and more generally cylindroid spadix (vs. prominently tapered spadix).

In the Lucid Anthurium key ( Haigh et al. 2009) A. roseonaviculare tracks to A. atramentarium Croat & Oberle (2004: 67) which differs by its longer (42–60 cm long) peduncles (versus peduncles shorter, 2–4 cm long), as well as by the black spathe (vs. rosy-red spathe) and cylindroid yellowish orange spadix (vs. prominently tapered creamy-yellow spadix), and to A. silverstonei Croat & Oberle (2004: 80) which differs by having blades drying greenish gray (vs. blades drying reddish-brown), spathes which dry greenish or whitish (vs. spathes drying reddish-brown) and a spadix pinkish or purplish (vs. creamy-yellow spadix).

Figures

FIGURE 4. Anthurium roseonaviculare Croat & O. Ortiz. Holotype specimen: Panama. Chiriquí: Distrito Gualaca, Reserva Forestal Fortuna, Sendero en la Quijada del Diablo que va hacia el Río Hornito, 1229 m, 8°41’32”N, 82°13’40”W, 7 Noviembre 2013, Orlando O. Ortiz, Juvenal Batista & Fredy Miranda 1793 (Photo MO Herbarium).

FIGURE 5. Anthurium roseonaviculare in its habitat at the type locality (Chiriquí province, Fortuna Reserve), Ortiz, Batista & Miranda 1793. A. Leaf blades. B. Cataphylls and inflorescence. C. Spathe and spadix. D. Cylindroid-tapered spadix (Photo Orlando O. Ortiz).