New Species of Philodendron (Araceae) from Bajo Calima, Colombia

This paper treats 20 new species of Philodendron Schott (Araceae) from Bajo Calima, Colombia. The aim is to succinctly publish these new species of Philoden dron in preparation for a more thorough treatment in an entire flora of the Bajo Calima region, complete with thorough descriptions, keys, and illustrations. The Bajo Calima region, which covers roughly 80,000 ha. of lowland tropical rainforest and is located on the Pacific Andean slopes in central Colombia, is known to be one of the centers of diversity for Araceae. The majority of these (13) are members of section Macrobelium (Schott) Sakuragui, while six are members of section Philoden dron Schott. These two sections are the most common in the genus, which currently comprises nine sections. The only other sections known from Central America are section Tritomophyllum (Schott) Engler and section Macrogynium Engler. The other sections, Baursia (Reichenbach ex Schott) Engler, Philopsammos G. S. Bunting, Schizophyllum (Schott) Engler, Polytomium (Schott) Engler, and Camptogynium K. Krause in Engler, are all restricted to South America. As is evident from the numbers of new species from this one small region alone, there remain many undescribed species of Philodendron in the Andean portions of South America, so collectors should bear this in mind while collecting.