Araceae
Anthurium paludosum Engl.
SUMMARY
Epiphyte; stems to 30 cm long; roots numerous, grayish-green, smooth, descending; cataphylls coriaceous, 5-6 cm long, persisting ± intact, drying brown, ultimately deciduous. LEAVES spreading-pendent; petioles 3-14 cm long, 3-5 mm diam., D-shaped to subterete, broadly and obtusely sulcate; geniculum 1-1.5 cm long; blades narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, subcoriaceous, 10-38 cm long, 3-13.5 cm wide, short-acuminate at apex, acute to attenuate (rarely obtuse to subrounded) at base; both surfaces semiglossy, sparsely punctate; midrib convexly raised above and below, sunken at apex above; primary lateral veins 12-14 per side, departing midrib at 40° angle, sometimes weakly sunken, usually ± obscure on upper surface, prominulous on lower surface; collective vein arising from the base and extending ± straight to apex, 3-12 mm from margin, flat and nearly obscure on upper surface, prominulous on lower surface. INFLORESCENCE erect-spreading, shorter than leaves; peduncle 7.5-15.5 cm long, 3-5 mm diam., terete, tinged red-violet; spathe moderately thin, whitish to green or purplish, withering soon after anthesis, oblong-lanceolate, 5.5-7 cm long, 4-14 mm wide, acuminate at apex, rounded at base, inserted at ca. 60° angle on peduncle; spadix green, tinged orange, becoming violet-purple, 8-14.5 cm long, 6-7 mm diam. at middle, scarcely tapered at apex; flowers rhombic, 2.8-3.2 mm long, 2.5-2.7 mm wide, the sides straight or weakly sigmoid; 5-6 flowers visible in the principal spiral, 7-9 flowers visible per alternate spiral; tepals matte to semiglossy, tinged violet-purple at outer margins, lateral tepals 1.9-2 mm long, the inner margin broadly rounded; pistils green, weakly emergent; stigma linear; stamens emerging from base, the lateral stamens emerging with only the apex of the anther visible, retracting before alternate stamens emerge, leaving only traces of white pollen. INFRUCTESCENCE with spadix 6-25 cm long; berries orange, red-orange, or white tinged with orange, ± globose to ovoid, 4-6 mm diam.; seeds 3-4, ellipsoid-oblong; 2-2.5 mm long, yellowish, except green on one end.