Anthurium cubense Engl.

Epiphytic or terrestrial; stem short, to 3 cm diam.; roots dense, ascending, green when young, becoming gray, pubescent at base, becoming smooth, tapered or ending abruptly, ca. 5-10 cm long, 3-5(8) mm diam.; cataphylls subcoriaceous, lanceolate, (4)l0-22 cm long, narrowly acuminate at apex, drying reddish brown (B & K yellow-red 4/10), persisting ± intact, weathering into coarse linear fibers and persisting around stem. LEAVES erect; petioles (4)6-16(36) cm long, (2)5-12 mm diam., C-shaped to D-shaped, broadly sulcate adaxially, rounded to obscurely flattened abaxially; geniculum slightly thicker than petiole, 0.5-1.5 cm long; sheath (l)3-8 cm long; blades subcoriaceous, usually oblanceolate-elliptic, sometimes ± elliptic, short to long-acuminate at apex, usually obtuse at base, sometimes acute or weakly rounded, (20)33- 95 cm long, (5.5)13-38 cm wide, broadest at or near the middle, the margins conspicuously undulate; upper surface semiglossy, medium green (B & K green 5/2.5), lower surface matte, slightly paler, both drying grayish; midrib flat to convexly raised at base, becoming obtusely raised toward the apex above, broadly angular to 3-ribbed below; primary lateral veins 6-11 per side, departing midrib at 30-50° angle, ± straight to the margin, convexly raised above and below, slightly paler than surface; tertiary veins obscure, weakly raised to prominulous when dried; reticulate veins visible, darker than surface, obscure when dried; collective vein arising in the upper ? to upper ¼ of the blade or absent, equally as prominent as primary lateral veins when present. INFLORESCENCES erect, rarely spreading, usually several at different stages of development per plant; peduncle (5.5)8-33 cm long, (2)5-10 mm diam., 0.4-1.2 x as long as petiole, green tinged violet, terete; spathe reflexed at anthesis, rarely recurled, subcoriaceous, green tinged with violet-purple, ovate to lanceolate, (2.5)5-16 cm long, (0.6)l-5 cm wide, broadest near the base, acute to acuminate at apex, rounded at base; stipe to 2 cm long in front, to 1 cm long in back; spadix purplish (B & K purple 4/5) to pale violet-purple (B & K purple 6/7.5), cylindroid, slightly tapered toward both ends, (2.5)8-19 cm long, (4)6-10 mm diam. near base, (3)5-9 mm diam. near apex; flowers rhombic to 4-lobed, (1.3)2.1-2.6 mm long, (1.7)2-2.6 mm wide, the sides weakly sigmoid, sometimes straight; 9-12 flowers visible in principal spiral, (9)14-16 in alternate spiral; tepals matte, pale punctate, slightly roughened; lateral tepals 0.7-1.4 mm wide, the inner margins straight to weakly convex, the outer margins 2-sided; pistils weakly raised, greenish, darker than tepals; stigma linear, 0.4 mm long; stamens emerging in a scattered pattern through out the spadix, laterals emerging almost to apex before alternate emerge, held just above tepals and against pistil, obscuring the latter at anthesis; anthers white tinged with red-violet; thecae oblong, not divaricate; pollen white. INFRUCTESCENCE spreading or erect; spathe persisting, brown; spadix ca. 14-27 cm long, 2-2.5 cm diam. (not including exserted berries), with the berries scattered throughout; berries orange-red (B & K yellow-red 5/2.5), ellipsoid, subtruncate and subapiculate at apex, 9-14 mm long, 4.5-6 mm diam.; mesocarp juicy; usually 1, sometimes 2 seeds per berry, yellow (B & K yellow 9/5), oblong to ellipsoid, 5-7 mm long, 3-3.4 mm diam., with a gelatinous, sticky, transparent appendage.