Araceae
Anthurium yatacuense Croat
SUMMARY
Terrestrial plant to 1.5 m tall; internodes elongate, 4–6 cm long, 1.5–1.7 cm diam.; cataphylls to 33 cm long, persisting intact for a while then reduced to fibres surrounding the caudex. Leaves erect; petiole terete or subterete, narrow and obtusely sulcate, medium green, semiglossy, almost matte, geniculate at apex, 40–79 cm long, 4–7 mm diam.; geniculum c. 1 cm long, darker than the petiole; blade broadly ovate, long-cuspidate at the apex, rounded or subcordate at the base (rarely acute), rounded or triangular, widest near the base, 24–50 cm long, 10–36 cm wide, averaging 39 × 25 cm, 1.2–2.5 × longer than wide, 0.5–0.7 × as long as petiole, subcoriaceous, almost matte and medium-green above, moderately paler and semiglossy below, sometimes turning purplish red along with most of the other parts of the plant upon drying; posterior lobes broadly rounded; midrib raised above, thicker than broad below; primary lateral veins 28–32 pairs, arising at 60–85º angle, quilted-sunken and concolorous above, prominently raised and nearly concolorous below; collective veins arising from the 1st–2nd pair of primary lateral veins or the 1st–2nd pair of basal veins, 2–5 mm from margin; basal veins 1–2(–3) pairs, free to the base. Inflorescences erect; peduncle terete, much thinner and shorter than petioles, 13–26 cm long, c. 2 mm diam.; spathe membranaceous, lanceolate, reflexed-spreading, 8–15 cm long, 8–14 mm wide, green and sometimes tinged purple at edges; spadix stipitate for 2–10 mm, very long and thin, often curved, tapering slightly towards the apex, 9–30 cm long, 4–5 mm diam. near the base, 3–4 mm diam. at the apex, yellow to pale violet-purple at anthesis, becoming brownish-green, yellow-brown or dark purple after anthesis. Flowers 5–6 visible per spiral, 2.5–3.5 mm long, 2–2.5 mm diam.; tepals papillate-granular, lateral tepals 1.5 mm wide, outer margins obtusely 2-sided, inner margins rounded; stamens barely emergent, 0.6 mm wide; pollen ± golden. Infructescences erect; spadix to 1.7 cm wide in the lower part due to the exserted fruits, remaining thin (c. 4 mm) towards the apex; berries first green then wine-coloured (pale violet-purple), red at maturity, oblong-elliptic, truncate and depressed at apex, 8 mm long, 5 mm diam.; seeds hemispheroid, 4 mm long, broadly ellipsoid in face view, the appendix on one end only.