Araceae
Anthurium upalaense Croat & R.A.Baker
SUMMARY
Epiphytic; stem less than 20 cm long, 1.5-3 cm diam.; leaf scars obscured by root mass and persistent cataphylls; roots moderately dense and numerous, brown to green, scurfy to pubescent, moderately thick and elongate, mostly 2-6 mm diam.; cataphylls lanceolate, coriaceous, acutely 1-ribbed throughout, 11-25 cm long, obtuse to acute to narrowly acuminate at apex, plain green to slightly tinged with red, drying brown, persisting intact, eventually deciduous. LEAVES erect-spreading to spreading; petioles (6)lO-47 cm long, 7- 13 mm diam., subquadrangular, broadly sulcate with the margins sharply raised adaxially, 3-5- ribbed abaxially, the surface pale-speckled; geniculum thicker and paler than petiole, sometimes reddish abaxially, 1-2 cm long; blades subcoriaceous to coriaceous, elliptic to narrowly oblong-ellipticto oblong-lanceolate, obtuse to acute to gradually acuminate at apex (the acumen downturned and weakly apiculate), usually acute to narrowly acute (rarely obtuse) at base, (30)40-106 cm long, (4.5)8-34 cm wide, broadest at or near the middle, the margins prominently undulate; upper surface semiglossy, dark green, lower surface semiglossy to glossy, slightly paler; midrib flat to obscurely angular at base, becoming prominently and sharply raised toward the apex and paler than surface above, prominently higher than broad and 3-ribbed at base, becoming prominently and acutely raised toward the apex below; primary lateral veins 10-20 per side, departing midrib at 60-75º angle, almost straight to the collective vein, loopconnected in the upper half, prominently and convexly raised above and below, more so above, paler than surface; interprimary veins less prominent than primary lateral veins; tertiary veins weakly visible, paler than surface above, darker than surface below, flat above and below; reticulate veins partially visible above, darker than surface below, drying prominulous above and below; collective vein arising in the upper half or in the upper third of the blade, flat, when dried slightly raised on both surfaces, 3-5 mm from margin. INFLORESCENCES erect to spreading or arching-pendent; peduncle (18)40-54 cm long, 4- 10 mm diam., equaling to 1.4-2.4 x as long as petiole, light green, weakly pale-speckled, sometimes tinged with purple at base, terete or 1-ribbed below opening of the spathe, sometimes faintly many-ribbed; spathe erect to reflexed, often rolled up, subcoriaceous, yellow-green, sometimes heavily tinged with violet-purple (B & K yellow-green 6/7.5 to 7/2.5), oblong-lanceolate to lanceolate, (4.5)8-20 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, broadest near the base, inserted at 60-75º angle on peduncle, short-acuminate (the acumen minutely inrolled), acute to decurrent on peduncle at base, the margins meeting at 20-60'ºangle; spadix green (B & K yellow-green 5/6) to maroon (B & K red-purple 2/7.5), long-tapered, 9-30 cm long, 6-15 mm diam. near base, 4-6 mm diam. near apex; flowers square to rhombic, 2.3-3.4 mm long, 1.7-2.8 mm wide, the sides shallowly sigmoid to straight; 10-20 flowers visible in principal spiral, 7- 15 in alternate spiral; tepals matte, inconspicuously pale punctate, with droplets appearing usually after 2 or more anthers emerge; lateral tepals 0.8-1.8 mm wide, the inner margins straight to slightly convex; pistils raised, rectangular to bluntly pyramidal, green to purplish; stigma ellipsoid, green, 0.4- 1.1 mm long, brush-like, droplets appearing 12-22 days before stamens emerge, persisting for 5-15 days; stamens emerging ± rapidly from the base or near the base, grouped in a tight cluster above the pistil; filaments retracting, short, ca. 0.2 mm long, 0.5-1 mm wide; anthers pale orange, 0.5-0.6 mm long, 0.7-1 mm wide, contiguous; thecae ellipsoid, scarcely divaricate; pollen orange fading to pale orange to lavender to white or tan. INFRUCTESCENCE pendent; spathe reflexed; spadix to55 cm long, 6 cm diam., with berries emerging ± uniformly throughout; berries red, oblong, acute at apex, tapered to both ends, to 15 mm long; mesocarp mealy, white, sweet; seeds 2 per berry, white, oblong, to 4 mm long.