Philodendron vinaceum (Araceae)
Rosulate herb. Stem up to 11 cm long, 4 cm in diameter, internodes abbreviated, clothed in cataphyll remains, leafy near the apex. Cataphyll thick, up to 33 cm long, 12 cm wide at the base, in place (covering the terminal bud) changing into rusty-red fibrous remains. LEAVES: Petiole green, semi-terete, ventrally canaliculate, up to 65 cm long, sheathed for 6 cm long in the lower part. Leaf blade coriaceous, in adult plants the outline is triangular-ovate, not-deeply cordate at the base, obtuse upwards, acuminate fro 3-5 cm in the upper part, finally extending in a 1 cm long cusp (in juvenile plants, ovate with a truncate base); adaxially deep green, midrib obtusely angled-canaliculate, 8-9 primary lateral veins on both sides, sulcate, straight, departing at an angle of up to 50-60º, arcuate near the margin, minor veins sub-parallel; abaxially wine-coloured or from brown to wine-coloured, except for the obtuse-angled raised midrib and primary veins which are green. INFLORESCENCE: Peduncle solitary, 10 cm long. Spathe 14 cm long, more or less cylindric, barely constricted, tube ca. 6 cm long. Spadix stipitate, stipe 0.9 cm long, almost cylindric, 10.5 cm long; female zone 3.2 cm long and 1.3 cm in diameter; sterile male zone 0.9 cm long, fertile zone 7.3 cm long and 1.2 cm in diameter. Pistillate flowers: ovary 4-5-locular, ovules very numerous in each locule, superposed.
The species is a rosulate epiphytic herb characterized by its short internodes, a rotten mass of cataphylls (unribbed when fresh with the outer epidermis persisting for a time), its broadly ovate, usually moderately thick blades, which are rounded to subcordate at the base and brownish maroon when young on the lower surface. The petioles are generally somewhat shorter than the blades and are obtusely D-shaped to broadly sulcate adaxially, with usually prominent margins. The inflorescences are solitary, with the peduncle somewhat shorter than the spathe. Another unusual feature of this species is the presence of well developed "cross-veins" extending between adjacent minor veins on the lower surface.
Endemic to Venezuela, in the Gran Sabana of Bolívar State.