Philodendron paludicola E.G.Gonç. & Salviani

STEM erect, sometimes branching 0.5-2 m tall, 6-8 cm thick; adventitious roots rarely seen above ground level, with prominent lenticels; internodes 1-10 mm long, green when young, turning silvery gray; propbyll scars 2-7 mm long, concolorous with the internodes; intravaginal squamules not persistent; foliage leaf scars rounded to transverse elliptic, 3-4.6 cm long, 5-6.5 cm wide, concolorous with true internodes. LEAF: 8-10 per crown; prophyll 35-49 cm long, 12-14 cm wide at base; petiole 40-45 cm long, clear green with darker longitudinal stripes, subequaling the leaf blade, 1-1.2 cm at apex, sulcate adaxially with sharply angled margins; leaf blade ovate to triangular in outline, upper surface dark green, semiglossy, margins repand to sinuately lobed, overall length 43-45 cm, overall width 39-43 cm, usually wider below petiole attachment; anterior division 32-34 cm long, 39-41 cm wide, apex acute to shortly acuminate; primary lateral lobes 3-4 per side, subtriangular to rounded, somewhat oblique, basal primary lateral lobes 2-5.5 cm long, 5-6 cm wide, shorter towards apex; primary lateral veins 4 per side, regularly spaced, paler than lamina in both surfaces, arising at an angle of 50-60°; posterior divisions 10-14 cm long, 0.3-0.4 X overall blade length, 39-43 cm wide, basal ribs denuded for 3-5-4 cm, tip rounded, primary acros-copic lobes 2-3, primary basioscopic lobes 2-3, much shallower than acroscopic lobes, basioscopic area of lamina well developed, sinus between posterior divisions parabolic. INFLORESCENCE: peduncle 8-10 cm long, 2-2.5 cm diam at apex; spathe 20.5-22 cm long, 5-5.5 cm diam at middle, dark glossy green on outer surface, white on inner surface; spadix 16-18.5 cm long, fertile male zone 6 cm long, 2.5 cm diam., subcylindric, sterile male zone 8 cm, usually longer than fertile male zone, 4 cm diam., thicker basally, female zone 4.5 cm long, 2.5 cm diam. FLOWERS: stamens 5-8 mm long, 1-1.2 mm diam. at apex; staminodes 5-7 mm long, longest at base of sterile zone, at apex 1-1.5 mm diam., clavate, usually flattened, tapering gradually and then abruptly to base; gynoecium 4-5 mm long, ovary cylindric, 2-2.5 mm diam., locules 4-7 per ovary, ovules 3-4 per locule, inserted from base to upper third of ovary axis, style crown strongly lobed, style body slightly narrower than the ovary, central dome absent, stigma 2 mm diam. FRUIT unknown.