Anthurium cotobrusii Croat & Baker,

Brenesia 16 (Supl. I): 43. 1979. TYPE: Panama. Chiriquí: above San Felix, along mining road, 18-27 miles off Pan-American Highway (above Chame on turnoff to Escopeta), elev. 1,200-1,500 m, Croat 33058 (MO-2381190-91, holotype; CR, F, NY, US, isotypes; Live at MO).

Terrestrial or sometimes epipelric or epiphytic; stem 1-3 cm diam. usually less than 15 cm long; roots greenish or grayish-brown, thick and smooth, to ca. 6 mm diam.; cataphylls 9-11 cm long, green, sometimes tinged purplish, turning tan, ultimately weathering to fine persisting fibers.

LEAVES erect-spreading; petioles 15-65 cm long, 5-7 mm diam., ± terete, weakly sulcate or flattened; gcniculum 1-3 cm long; blades narrowly ovate to triangular, subcoriaceous, narrowly long-acuminate at apex, the acumen often turned down sharply, shallowly and broadly lobed at base, 16-56 cm long, 9.5-25 cm wide, widest at the base; the anterior lobe (13)18-30(37) cm long, the margin ± straight to convex; the posterior lobes (5)8-11(15) cm long, turning up; the sinus much broader than deep when flattened, obtuse to acute at apex; both surfaces semiglossy; midrib obtusely raised on both surfaces at base, more sharply raised toward apex on upper surface, finally diminishing at apex; primary lateral veins 5-8 per side, weakly to sharply raised (especially toward base) above, weakly raised below, arcuate-ascending; basal veins 3-5 pairs, 3 or 4 of them coalesced 4-6 cm; posterior rib naked throughout its length, gradually curved to almost straight, turning under; lesser veins less conspicuous; the collective vein arising from the lowermost primary lateral vein, from a primary lateral vein above the middle or from the first basal vein.

INFLORESCENCE erect-spreading, shorter to longer than the leaves; peduncles terete, (4.5)20-46 cm long; spathe green, pale green, or green with purplish veins or heavily suffused with purple on inner surface, sometimes tinged purple only at base medially, ovate to narrowly ovate, (2.5)5-9.5(12) cm long, (1.7)2.7-4.5 cm wide, weakly boat-shaped to flat, acuminate at apex, acute to rounded or shallowly cordate at the base, inserted at 60°-70° angle on peduncle; stipe green or green tinged with purple, 10-20 mm long in front, 2-6 mm long in back; spadix green to dark purple-violet at anthcsis, (2.5)5-25 cm long, 7-15 mm diam. at base, 3-7 mm diam. at apex, with a pungent, sweet scent when droplets are fresh; flowers sub-4-lobed, 3.5-5 mm long, 3.5-4 mm wide, sometimes ca. 3.5 mm in both directions; 3-6 flowers visible in the principal spiral, 7-10 flowers visible in the alternate spiral; tepals dark violet-purple or yellow-green with purple margins, sparsely punctate, more densely so near margins, semiglossy to matte, the inner margins broadly convex; pistil green; stigma linear, purple-violet or green, ca. 0.6 mm long, forming conspicuous droplets for 1-3 weeks before emergence of stamens, droplets persisting when the first and second stamens are opening;stigma drying and covered by thecae when third and fourth stamens are emerged; stamens weakly exserted in a close circular cluster; anthers orange to yellowish, held just above the tepals, 0.6-0.9 mm long, 1 mm wide; filament short, retracting; pollen pale orange, fading white.

INFRUCTESCENCE erect-spreading; berries pale orange (B & K. Yellow-red 8/7.5), obovoid, 12-15 mm long, 8-11 mm diam., rounded at apex, the apex darker, depressed with 4 short, slightly elevated ridges; mesocarp juicy, orange; seeds usually 2, oblong-elliptic, 6.5-7.5 mm long, 2.5-4 mm wide, encased in a flattened, translucent envelope that projects up to 3 mm beyond the apex of the seed and up to 1 mm beyond the lateral margins. Figs. 57, 59, and 60.

Anthurium cotobrusii is found in Costa Rica and Panama in premontane wet forest at elevations of 1,000 to 1,500 m. This species is most easily distinguished by its subcoriaceous leaves which have more or less obscure reticulate veins when fresh but have conspicuous reticulate veins when dry, and by its prominently tapered, violet-purple spadix with a tight cluster of stamens. In a dried state the flowers have their tepals turned somewhat upwards, which, in conjunction with the clustered stamens, gives the spadix a rough appearance. Other diagnostic features are the primary lateral veins often free to the margin in the basal half of the blade, the thick, grayish roots that are densely long-pubescent on drying and the early emergent berries that are quadrangular with prominent ridges radiating from the center to the comers. The species is now placed in section Belolonchium. It was erroneously placed previously in the section Cardiolonchium by Croat and Baker, 1980. It is most easily confused with A. ranchoanum. which has similar leaves, but the latter has a short cylindroid, scarcely tapered spadix that is usually nodding and hooded by the spadix when in flower (the spathe remaining erect in fruit). In contrast, A. cotobrusii has an erect, prominently tapered spadix and a prominently reflexed spathe. In addition, the berries of A. ranchoanum are smoothly rounded at apex.