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Araceae
Philodendron fendleri K.Krause
SUMMARY
Scandent epiphyte, often massive, flowering only on attached climbing stems but often low-climbing or lying in loops and coils on ground, with yellowish-brown, gummy aromatic sap; stem climbing to at least 5 m, naked below with leaves crowded into terminal crown, internodes of flowering stems 2-6 cm long, 5-6 cm thick, grey-green, with conspicuous, kidney-shaped petiole scars 3 cm long, 4 cm, broad, each node bearing whitish annular scar and several long, pendent, greyish-brown roots up to 0.7 cm thick; cataphylls yellow-green, up to at least 50 cm long, narrowly conical when furled, soon deciduous; LEAVES: petiole 58.5-90 cm long, up to 1.5 cm thick at apex, 2.5 cm thick at base, 1-1.3 times as long as lamina, green with small, purple, glandular maculations, at apex terete or elliptical in, section, with short basal sheath 4-7 cm long, lamina 35.5-88 cm long overall, 30-65 cm broad, 1.1-1.4 times longer than broad, broadest at petiole insertion, rather flat in life, more or less horizontal to slightly pendent, in outline ovate to broadly ovate, margin deeply pinnatifid with marginal lobes 6-9 on each side, lobes at centre of lamina 11-23 cm long, 3-8 cm broad, oblong with blunt, unequal-sided tips, apical lobes curving towards leaf apex, central lobes separated by oblong sinuses 1-3 cm, broad, extending for 0.5-0.8 of width from lamina margin to midrib, sinuses longest at centre of leaf, apical lobe acuminate, base of leaf lamina sagittate, posterior lobes with inner margins strongly lobed (in adult leaves), separated by oblong to parabolic, sometimes widely spreading sinus 0.2-0.3 times as long as leaf lamina; primary lateral veins of midrib 3-5 on each side, one per marginal lobe, diverging from midrib at angle of 50°-75°; basal veins all coalesced proximally to form basal rib on each side, sometimes with innermost vein free, spreading-ascending; basal ribs of posterior lobes strongly developed, straight, denuded proximally for 1-5 cm, emitting 1-3 well-differentiated lateral veins on anterior side, 1-6 weaker but distinct lateral veins on posterior side, each forming central vein of a marginal lobe; inflorescences up to 4 per leaf axil, all but outermost subtended by white or greenish bicarinate cataphylls; INFLORESCENCE: peduncle 11-18 cm long, 1.2-1.4 cm thick, elliptical or subterete in section, green with spares, purplish, glandular maculations at apex; spathe 13-18 cm long, basal tube somewhat inflated, 6-8 cm long, 2.8-3.7 cm broad when furled, apical lamina 7-9 cm long, 1.8-2.1 cm broad when furled, outer surface green, dull, dirty red-tinged basally, green and reddish-tinged apically, inner surface rich, dark maroon-purple basally, somewhat paler apically; spadix 10-14 cm long, obliquely inserted on peduncle, sessile or subsessile, at flowering stage basal pistillate portion 3-4 cm long, 1.8 cm thick, intermediate sterile staminodial portion 2.5 cm long, swollen and 1.7 cm thick at base, apical staminate portion 7 cm long, 1.3 cm thick, subcylindrical; stamens and staminodes opaque white; pistils 3.5 mm long, 2 mm broad, ovary 8-10-locular, each locule with 3-4 ovules, funicle up to 3 times as long as ovule, placentation basal or sub-basal, ovary shortly narrowed apically, stigma capitate, depressed-globose to thickly discoid, translucent-yellowish.