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Araceae
Philodendron phlebodes G.S.Bunting
SUMMARY
Scandent herb up to 6 m long. Stem ca. 5 cm thick, many-leaved in the upper part, internodes short, hidden by cataphyll remains. New cataphyll up to ca. 55 cm long. LEAVES: Petiole hard and rigid, longer than the leaf blade, up to 68 cm long and 1.4 cm thick, sub-terete, ventrally narrowly and deeply canaliculate, canal margins angular, sheathed in the lower part for 10 cm (in flowering plants). Leaf blade coriaceous, hard, fragile, ovate or elliptic-ovate, truncate at the base, or subcordate, obtuse at the apex with an acumen, up to 56 cm long and 27 cm wide, margin flat; Adaxially deep glossy green, midrib paler green, 1.3 cm wide, flattened below, convex further up; primary lateral veins sulcate, ca. 9-12 on each side, with one secondary vein between each pair, emerging at an angle of ca. 65-90º, arcuate towards the margin, minor veins all parallel; Abaxially matt, pale dirty green, midrib paler green, in the form of a U, primary and secondary veins raised. INFLORESCENCE: Peduncle solitary, up to 34 cm long. Spathe externally green throughout, internally ivory white, up to 26 cm long, tube 10.5-11 cm long and 3.5 cm thick (post anthesis). Spadix up to 21.5 cm long; female zone ca. 10 cm long and 3 cm thick. Berries (immature0 green, ovaries 2-locular, numerous ovules in each locule, (‘superpositis’).