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Araceae
Philodendron maroae G.S.Bunting
SUMMARY
Rosulate herb. Stem short, ca. 4 cm thick, covered with brown fibrous cataphyll remains, internodes short. New cataphylls up to 26 cm long, strongly 2-winged dorsally. LEAVES: Petiole hard and rigid, 50-76 cm long and ca. 1.5 cm thick, almost semi-terete, ventrally moderately convex, margins acutely angled, raised-spreading; lower part sheathed for 4-6 cm. Leaf blade coriaceous, rigid, quite fragile, ribbed, (1.3-) 1.6-1.95 times longer than wide, 50-64 cm long, 35-39 cm wide at the base (when dry i.e. flattened), outline more or less triangular (proportion ca. 3:2) (in life, outline more or less oblong-ovate, posterior lobes stretched outwards and forwards from the axis of the anterior lobe and touching each other or separated by a sinus mitriform in outline); posterior lobes rounded or moderately angular, diverging somewhat extrorsely, separated by a 12-14.5 cm deep campaniform [mitriform in life] sinus; principal veins 4-5 on each side, joined into short posterior ribs, naked for 4.5-6 cm in the sinus; 6-7 primary lateral veins on each side of the anterior lobe, departing at an angle of ca. 45º-55º, the upper secondary and tertiary veins are sub-parallel to the primary veins, the lower tertiary veins departing from the stronger veins at a different angle; margin strongly undulate and yellow-margined; adaxially bright ('laete') green, midrib yellow-green, concave, 0.6 cm wide and venation deeply sunken; abaxially matt, pale green, midrib, posterior ribs and primary veins ivory-green. INFLORESCENCE: Peduncle solitary, green, 10-12 cm long. Spathe 14.5-15.5 cm long, tube fusiform, 7.5 cm long and 2.8 cm wide, externally wine-coloured, and ivory-margined (0.3-0.4 cm), internally crimson, blade acute at apex, externally and internally pale yellow. Spadix subequal to the spathe, subsessile (strongly oblique at the base), ca. 13 cm long and 1.6-1.8 cm thick, female zone 4.8 cm long; sterile male zone 2.3-2.5 cm long, 1.25-1.4 cm in diameter in the upper part; constriction, fertile zone 5.6-6 cm long. Pistillate flowers: ovaries 7(6-8)-locular, 4(-5) ovules in each locule. Staminate flowers (6-)5-4-androus from the base to the apex of the spadix.