Anthurium carchiense Croat

Terrestrial or epiphytic; stem ca. 6–8 cm long, 0.8–2 cm diam.; leaf scars obscured by cataphyll fibers, 5–6 mm high, 1–1.3 cm wide; roots moderately numerous, generally descending, pale grayish white, drying tan, smooth, short to elongate, blunt at apex, to 14 cm long, 1–4 mm diam.; cataphylls subcoriaceous, narrowly lanceolate, unribbed, 5–9 cm long, acuminate at apex, green, drying tan to dark brown, persisting as a reticulum of fibers. Leaves spreading; petioles 7–17(30.5) cm long (mostly less than 16 cm long), 4–5 mm diam., terete to D-shaped, rounded to bluntly and narrowly sulcate (rarely broadly and sharply sulcate) adaxially, rounded abaxially, the surface somewhat pale-speckled; geniculum slightly paler and thicker than petiole, 0.7–2 cm long; blades subcoriaceous to coriaceous, oblong to oblong-elliptic, sometimes somewhat lanceolate or oblanceolate, long-acuminate (rarely acute) at apex, narrowly acute at base, 30–57 cm long, 2.7–6 cm wide, broadest at or slightly above the middle, the margins flat; upper surface glossy to semiglossy, dark green above, matte when dried, lower surface glossy, paler below, semiglossy when dried; both surfaces greenish to yellowish on drying; midrib acutely raised above, prominently and sharply acute below, slightly paler than surface; primary lateral veins 13–16 per side, departing midrib at 50–60 degree angle, more or less straight-ascending to the collective vein, flat above, obscure and very weakly raised below; interprimary veins numerous, obscure above and below, drying raised and almost as conspicuous as primary lateral veins; tertiary veins visible when dried; collective vein arising from or near the base, weakly sunken above, raised below, raised above and below when dried, 3–8 mm from margin. Inflorescences erect to spreading; peduncle 17.5–39 cm long, drying 1–4 mm diam., 1.9–5.5 times as long as petiole, green (brown when dried); spathe reflexed, subcoriaceous, pale green tinged with purple at margins, oblong-lanceolate to lanceolate, 3–6.5 cm long, 0.6–1 cmwide, broadest near the base, inserted at 45 degree angle on peduncle, acuminate at apex, acute at base, the margins meeting at 60–80 degree angle; stipe 2–6 mm long; spadix maroon to orange-brown to brownish purple to brown (B & K yellow 4/5), cylindroid, shortly stipitate, straight or sometimes curved, 2.3–6.3 cm long, 3–5 mm diam.; flowers more or less rhombic, 2–2.4 mm long, 1.5–2 mm wide, the sides straight to smoothly sigmoid on drying; 4–6 flowers visible in principal spiral, 7–9 in alternate spiral; tepals purple-red, papillate, matte; lateral tepals 0.8–1.5 mm wide, the inner margins convex, the outer margins 2-sided; pistils scarcely emergent at anthesis, raised, purple-red to dark purple; stigma slit-like, 0.5–0.6 mm long, forming droplets before stamens emerge; stamens emerging in a regular sequence, held well above tepals, the laterals followed by alternates in rapid succession, the laterals preceding the alternates by 3–4 spirals, arranged in a circle around the pistil; filaments translucent, exserted 0.7–0.8 mm, 0.2 mm wide; anthers orange to pink (B & K red 8/10), 0.2–0.3 mm long, 0.4 mm wide; thecae ovoid, 0.6–0.4 mm wide, slightly divaricate; pollen white. Infructescence with spathe persisting; spadix 3.5–10.5 cm long, 1–1.7 cm diam., with the berries scattered throughout; berries orange-red, more or less ellipsoid to ovoid, acute at apex, (dried) 6–7 mm long, 3.2–3.4 mm diam.

Discussion: A member of series Multinervii, Anthurium carchiense occurs in Ecuador in the Province of Carchi (hence the name), and in Colombia in Narino at 1,200 to 2,600 m in premontane wet, premontane dry and premontane thorn forest life zones; it presumably occurs also in premontane moist forest as well. This species is distinguished by its small size, more or less oblong leaf blades which are long﷓acuminate at the apex, maroon to brownish spadix, flowers with exserted stamens and red﷓orange berries. A species similar in overall appearance, A. obscurinervium, differs in having a green spadix and D﷓shaped petioles and generally occurs at lower elevations