Araceae
Anthurium solomonii Croat
SUMMARY
Description based on dried material only. Epilithic or terrestrial; stem to 5 cm diam.; roots numerous, gray, finely pubescent, short, 2-4 mm diam.; cataphylls probably subcoriaceous, to more than 19 cm long, brown-gray, persisting semi-intact, eventually as fine linear fibers. LEAVES with petioles 7-2 1 cm long, 8- 10 mm diam., D-shaped, with an obtuse medial rib and acute, somewhat raised margins adaxially, 1-3-ribbed abaxially; geniculum drying darker than petiole, 0.7-1 cm long; sheath 6 cm long; blades subcoriaceous, oblanceolate to oblong-oblanceolate, acute at apex (the acumen apiculate), narrowly rounded at base, (39)65-94 cm long, (9)18-35 cm wide, broadest above the middle, the margins undulate; both surfaces glossy, matte to glossy, brown to greenish; midrib sharply and prominently acute above, below higher than broad and obscurely 3-ribbed at base, becoming convexly raised toward the apex; primary lateral veins (10)15- 19 per side, departing midrib at 40-90º angle, straight, sometimes broadly arcuate, convexly raised on both surfaces; interprimary veins few; tertiary veins raised above and below; reticulate veins raised below; collective vein arising from lower third of the blade or absent in young plants, less prominent than primary lateral veins on both surfaces, 2-7 mm from margin. INFLORESCENCES shorter than leaves; peduncle (4)l0- 26 cm long, ca. 5 mm diam., 0.5-2 x as long as petiole; spathe subcoriaceous, presumably lanceolate, more than 6 cm long, ca. 1.7 cm wide, decurrent at base; stipe ca. 2.7 cm long in front, 4 mm long in back; spadix color unknown, long tapered to ± cylindroid in small plants, weakly curved, held at 160' angle from peduncle, 7.5- 19.5 cm long, 9 mm diam. near base, 4 mm diam. near apex; flowers rhombic, 2.1-2.4 mm long, 1.4-1.7 mm wide, the sides straight to smoothly sigmoid; 9-1 1 flowers visible in principal spiral, 5-6 in alternate spiral; tepals roughened; lateral tepals 0.9-1.5 mm wide, the inner margins straight to broadly convex, the outer margins 2-sided; stigma linear, 0.5-0.7 mm long; anthers pale yellow, 0.5-0.6 mm long, 0.7-0.8 mm wide, obscuring the pistil; thecae oblong, slightly divaricate. INFRUCTESCENCE appearing to be ± erect; spathe deciduous; spadix ca. 2 1 cm long, 2 cm diam., reddish brown (excluding tepals); berries bright pinkish purple, oblong-ovoid, probably acute and with radial ridges at apex, becoming sunken in on drying, 7.5- 8 mm long, 4.6-5 mm diam.; pericarp thickened, with numerous raphide cells; seeds 2 per berry, reddish brown, ± ovoid, flattened, 3.4-3.6 mm long, 2.2-2.4 mm diam., 0.8-1 mm thick, with a gelatinous, translucent, amber appendage at each end.