Anthurium palenquense Croat

Terrestrial; stem green turning brown, calloused, 15-30 cm long, 1-2.5 cm diam.; leaf scars obscured by root mass, 1 cm high, 1-1.5 cm wide; roots numerous, descending, grayish or green, smooth or scurfy, blunt, 1-20 cm long, 2-5 mm diam.; cataphylls membranous to subcoriaceous, lanceolate, 4.5-17 cm long, narrowly acute and apiculate at apex, green tinged reddish at margins, drying pale tan (B & K yellow 5/10), persisting semi-intact or as coarse linear fibers or as bundles of linear fibers, often with the apex remaining intact. LEAVES erect to spreading; petioles (6)l0-30 cm long, 5-20 mm diam., sharply triangular, flattened to broadly convex adaxially, the margins winged, sharply angular abaxially; geniculum scarcely thicker and slightly paler than petiole, the angular ribs often conspicuously and minutely undulate, 1-3 cm long; sheath 1-2 cm long; blades subcoriaceous to coriaceous, elliptic to lanceolate or oblanceolate, long-acuminate at apex (the acumen flat to slightly inrolled), attenuate with conspicuously concave margins at base, (16)30-64(70) cm long, (7.5)10-23 cm wide, broadest usually near or below the middle, the margins broadly undulate; upper surface matte, velvety, the cells convex, sunken, forming an alveolate pattern when dried, dark green (B & K green 4/2.5), lower surface matte, paler (B & K green 7/2.5); midrib flat to obtusely angular at base, becoming sharply acutely raised toward the apex above, acutely raised (knife-edged), and higher than broad below; primary lateral veins (9)14-30 per side, departing midrib at 40-65(80)° angle, ascending straight to the collective vein, weakly sunken to weakly raised above, darker than surface and weakly raised below; interprimary veins numerous, scarcely sunken, ± parallel to and less conspicuous than primary lateral veins; tertiary veins obscure above and below; collective vein arising from near the base, weakly sunken or weakly raised above, weakly raised or flat below, prominulous when dried, equally as prominent as primary lateral veins, 5-18 mm from margin. INFLORESCENCES erect to slightly spreading or ± pendent, shorter than leaves; peduncle 10-60 cm long, 2-10 mm diam., 0.3-3 x as long as petiole, green to dark purple or heavily tinged-mottled with red-purple (B & K red-purple 2/2.5), ± quadrangular or with 2-4 irregular ribs and convex sides; spathe spreading and weakly twisted or reflexed, membranous to subcoriaceous, green tinged maroon at margins and along main nerves (B & K red-purple 2/10), minutely palespeckled (at least abaxially), narrowly lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 3-12 cm long, 0.5-2.5 cm wide, broadest near base, inserted at 30-90° angle on peduncle, acuminate at apex (the acumen inrolled, (2)5-15 mm long), acute to decurrent at base; stipe 3-15 mm long in front, 1-5 mm long in back; spadix yellow-green tinged with purple, becoming purple-violet or dark green tinged purplish at anthesis, cylindroid, sometimes weakly tapered, erect to curved, (2)4-12 cm long, 3-5 mm diam. near base, 3-4 mm diam. near apex; flowers with a faint, sweet, fruity scent, square to rhombic, 2-3.8 mm long, 1-3.8 mm wide, the sides straight to gradually sigmoid; 2-5 flowers visible in principal spiral, 2-6 in alternate spiral; tepals matte to semiglossy, minutely papillate and weakly punctate; lateral tepals 1.4-2.6 mm wide, the inner margins broadly convex, turned up against pistil, the outer margins 2-sided; pistils exserted 0.4-1.5 mm, glossy, green, sometimes tinged with purple around the stigma; stigma ellipsoid, greenish, 0.4- 0.8 mm long, 0.25-0.4 mm wide, brushlike with blunt papillae, droplets appearing 1 week before stamens emerge; stamens emerging rapidly in a regular sequence from the base, the laterals preceding the alternates by 5-28 spirals (by ca. 34 the length of the spadix), held erect above tepals and pistil; filaments translucent, exserted, 0.6-1 mm long, 0.4 mm wide; anthers orange (B & K yellow-red 7/10), 0.4-0.6 mm long, 0.5-0.7 mm wide, not obscuring pistil; thecae ellipsoid, 0.25 mm wide, weakly divaricate; pollen orange to yellow fading to cream-white (B & K yellow-red 7/ 2.5). INFRUCTESCENCE with spathe persisting; spadix 5-15 cm long, 0.5-1.5 cm diam.; berries dark purple, ovoid, acute at apex, 5-11 mm long, 5- 6 mm diam.; pericarp thickened, with numerous raphide cells; seeds 1-2 per berry, with numerous raphide cells, rounded to ovoid, usually flattened on one side, 4-5.6 mm long, 3.2-3.8 mm diam., 1-2.8 mm thick, with a translucent gelatinous appendage at both ends.