Anthurium platyrhizum (Araceae)
Epiphyte; stems very short, green; leaf scars ca. 8 mm wide; roots dense, greenish brown, flat, 5-8 mm wide; cataphylls coriaceous, 1.5-3.7 cm long, drying brown with a raised medial rib, acute and apiculate at apex, the apiculum ca. 1.5 mm long, drying tan (B & K Yellow 6/5), splitting at base, intact at apex, subpersistent. LEAVES spreading; petioles 4-11 cm long, 2-3 mm diam., weakly flattened to shallowly sulcate adaxially; geniculum 1-1.7 cm long; blades narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate-elliptic, acuminate at apex, acute to obtuse or rounded at base, 17-30 cm long, 4.3-8.7 cm wide, broadest at the middle; upper surface matte to semiglossy, lower surface semiglossy; midrib weakly raised at base above, diminished and sunken at apex, prominent and convexly raised below; primary lateral veins 4-6 per side, departing the midrib at 45-55° angle, flat to weakly sunken above, nearly obscure in older leaves, prominulous below, more or less straight to collective vein; lesser veins obscure above, flat below; collective vein arising from near the base, sometimes extending along midrib at base for up to 2 cm before branching out to form collective vein, 0.4-1 cm from margin, sunken above, raised below. INFLORESCENCE spreading, usually shorter than leaves; peduncle 10.5-26 cm long, 2-3.5 mm diam., terete, 2-5 times longer than petioles; spathe subcoriaceous, green (B & K Yellow-green 6/7.5), ovate 2.6-4.5 cm long, 1.5-2 cm wide, broadest just below middle, abruptly acuminate at apex, rounded to acute at base; stipe pale green, 1-1.7 cm long, 2-4 mm diam.; spadix dark green (B & K Green 5/2.5), scarcely tapered at apex, 1.6-3.5 cm long, 5-8 mm diam. midway, the flowers 4-lobed, 4-4.5 mm long, 5-5.5 mm wide, the sides jaggedly sigmoid, 3-4 flowers visible in the principal spiral, 4-5 flowers visible in the alternate spiral; tepals glossy with obscure, pale punctations, minute droplets apparent at anthesis, lateral tepals ca. 2 mm wide, the inner margin weakly rounded; pistils emergent ca. 1 mm, whitish, translucent, pointed, sometimes tinged violet purple near edges of tepals; stigma broadly elliptic, 0.5-0.6 mm long, with small clear droplets apparent 1-2 days before stamens emerge; stamens emerging beginning from the base, laterals first, emerging to midway before alternates emerge, exserted on short, translucent filaments, retracting and held at edge of tepals in a close but non contiguous circle around pistil; anthers yellow, ca. 0.6 mm long, 0.5 mm wide; thecae oblong, slightly divaricate; pollen bright orange fading to pale orange to tan. INFRUCTESCENCE with berries ovoid, ca. 8 mm long, 4 mm diam., violet purple, rounded at apex; seeds not seen.
Known only from Panama (though it is to be expected in Colombia) and has been collected from the Atlantic slope in the Provinces of Colón and San Blas.
Premontane and tropical wet forest.