Anthurium cubense (Araceae)
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.
This species is recognized by its short petioles, short inflorescences (much shorter than the leaves), its stubby, purplish to pale violet-purple spadix that is tapered toward the apex (or sometimes toward both ends), and by its bright red berries.
Found in Cuba and drier parts of eastern Guatemala and Yucatan on the Atlantic slope, and in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama on the Pacific slope. In South America, it extends along the Caribbean coast from western Venezuela to Colombia, with one outlying collection known from the Río Patia in southern Colombia . It is most common in Cuba and Nicaragua.
It occurs in tropical dry forest, drier parts of tropical moist forest, and premontane wet forest.