Philodendron warszewiczii K.Koch & C.D.Bouché

CATE Araceae, 17 Dec 2011. araceae.e-monocot.org

Vernacular

Common names for this species include: "Guacamayo"; "Cupapayo"; "Mano de Lión"; Copapayo"; "Ocopayo"; and "Papaya de Monte" (Standley & Steyermark, 1958b).

Phenology

Flowering collections of Philodendron warszewiczii are rare, known only from May. Post-anthesis collections, concentrated between April and June (but also January, February, March, July, August, September, and December), imply that the flowering period is relatively broad, perhaps throughout the entire dry season and the first half of the rainy season. Immature fruiting collections are scattered in a somewhat bimodal pattern, one group in the mid-rainy season from July through September, the other group primarily in the early dry season from December through March (especially December and January). The immature fruits collected in November might reflect an early dry season flowering. Mature fruits are known only from this same period between December and Feburary at the beginning of the dry season.

Habitat

Tropical dry forest life zones. In Mexico, the species occurs in "Selva Mediana Subperennifolia" and "Selva Baja Caducifolia".

Distribution

Ranges from Mexico (Jalisco and Chiapas) to El Salvador on the Pacific slope, and to Honduras and Nicaragua.

General Description

Usually terrestrial, or on rocks, sometimes epiphytic; stem appressed-climbing, thick, succulent, bare, leaf scars conspicuous, 1.5--2.6 cm long, 1.5--2 cm wide; internodes short near apex, semiglossy, glaucous, 3--5(15) cm long, 2.5--7(10)cm diam., often longer than broad lower down, dark green to gray-brown; roots pale green to dark brown, few per node, epidermis drying yellowish; cataphylls thin, soft, 18--33 cm long, weakly to sharply 2-ribbed, pale green to whitish, lightly and densely short-lineate, deciduous intact. LEAVES often deciduous in dry season; petioles 33-58(80) cm long, 1--2 cm diam., subterete to C-shaped, moderately soft, weakly flattened to rounded with thick, medial rib adaxially, with adaxial margins sharply raised, surface sharply striate, with a dark green ring around apex; blades triangular-sagittate in outline, deeply bipinnately or bipinnatisect to within 1--4 cm of the midrib, thin, semiglossy, moderately bicolorous, more or less rounded at apex (the acumen 2 mm long), cordate at base, 31--78 cm long, 30--62 cm wide (0.9--1.3 times longer than wide), (1--1.3 times longer than petiole), upper surface moderately glossy, moderately paler, margins sinuate; median lobe 17--52 cm long, 23--63 cm wide, rounded to obtuse; lateral segments 1--30 cm long, 11--28 cm wide, pinnately lobed with 3 or more lobes per side, acute or acuminate; interlobal sinuses 0.78--0.94 the length of the blades; midrib flat, obscurely striate, slightly paler than surface above, raised, obscurely striate, slightly paler than surface below; basal veins 2--6 per side, with 0--1 free to base, second and third pair coalesced 2--5 cm, third and higher order veins coalesced 5--7 cm; posterior rib naked along most of its margin; primary lateral veins 3--6 per side, departing midrib at a 55--70º angle, straight to the margins, weakly raised above, raised, paler than surface below; tertiary veins raised, paler than surface above and below; minor veins visible, darker than surface below, distinctly visible on drying, arising from both the midrib and primary lateral veins. INFLORESCENCES 1(3) per axil; peduncle (2.5--3)4.5--11(16) cm long, 1--2 cm diam., dark green, dark short-lineate; spathe 13.5--30 cm long, 4--7.5 cm diam. (1.1--3.6(4.7) times longer than peduncle), medium to dark green throughout, blunt at apex, scarcely constricted; spathe blade short dark green lineate outside, 12 cm long, pale green to white inside; spathe tube weakly short dark green lineate outside, 14 cm long, pale green to white or purple or red inside; spadix sessile; white throughout, 14--24(30) cm long, constricted weakly above pistillate portion; pistillate portion 3 cm long in front, 2 cm long in back, 1.3 cm diam. at apex, 1.7 cm diam. at middle, 1.6 cm wide at base; staminate portion 8.3--15 cm long; fertile staminate portion 1.6 cm diam. at base, 1.4 cm diam. at middle, 9 mm diam. ca. 1 cm from apex; sterile staminate portion 1.3 cm diam.; pistils (1.1)4.1 mm long, 3.5--4.5 mm diam.; ovary 4-5-locular, 2.6,9.5 mm long, 3.5--4.5 mm diam., with axile placentation; locules 2.6 mm long, 0.8--1.1 mm diam.; ovule sac 2.4 mm long; ovules 3--4 per locule, 0.5 mm long, contained in thick, translucent matrix; style 1.2--1.6 mm long, 1.2--1.4 mm diam., similar to style type E; style funnel broad, moderately deep; style apex more or less flat; stigma subdiscoid, unlobed, 0.7 mm diam., 0.3 mm high, lining entire upper surface of funnel; the androecium truncate, prismatic, oblong, margins irregularly 4--6-sided, 3.3 mm long, 1.3 mm diam. at apex; thecae oblong, 0.4 mm wide, more or less parallel to one another and nearly contiguous; sterile staminate flowers rounded to somewhat clavate, irregularly 4--6-sided, 2.6 mm long, 1.3--1.8 mm wide. INFRUCTESCENCE brownish outside, brownish inside, to 3 cm wide pistillate spadix 3--7.5 cm long; berries white, 8--11 mm long; seeds 3--4 per locule, pale yellow, oblong-ellipsoid, 2--2.5 mm long, 1--1.2 mm diam., with pale raphide cells.