Anthurium hebetatilaminum Croat & J. Rodr.

Appressed epiphyte or rarely terrestrial; stems to 50 cm long, internodes short, 1–4 cm long, 2–2.5 cm diam.; cataphylls 15–20 cm long, persisting intact toward apex, decomposing into fibers and persisting below; petioles 40–63 cm long, 3–5 mm diam., sulcate to sharply c-shaped, sometimes 5-ribbed, sheathed 5–6.5 cm; geniculum 1.6–2.7 cm long, drying darker; blades narrowly ovate, 45–60 cm long, 16–21 cm wide, broadest at the point of petiole insertion, subcoriaceous, gradually to abruptly acuminate at apex, truncate to subcordate at base, dark green and semiglossy above, paler and matte below; midrib convex above, round-raised below, sometimes purplish and weakly striate; primary lateral veins 19–23, narrowly sunken above, convex below, arising at 43–47 degree angle, tertiary; veins prominent below, weakly raised; basal veins 2–4, free or with 2 coalesced ca 1.5 cm; collective veins arising from one of the lowermost primary lateral veins or the uppermost basal veins, 3–5 mm from the margin. Inflorescence erect; peduncle 30–45 cm long, sometimes sulcate and 5-ribbed, 1/3–2/3 as long as petioles; spathe lanceolate, green, sometimes with purplish veins, 13–20 cm long, 1.4–1.7 cm wide, erect-spreading, inserted at an angle of 45 degrees, margins meeting acutely at base; spadix 14–20 cm long, sessile, narrowly long-tapered, dark violet-purple; flowers quadrangular to rhombic, 3.5–3.2 mm diam., 7–9 per spiral; tepals 2.8–2 mm perpendicular to the axis; lateral tepals with the inner margins convex; stamens to 1.7 mm long; anthers yellowish red. Infructescence purplish, to 25 cm long, 1.5 cm diam., erect; berries 3.5–4.5 mm long, globose to obovoid, purple, sometimes longitudinally steaked with yellow-green; pericarp thin; mesocarp mucilaginous, transluscent; seeds 2–3 mm long, 1 mm wide, olive-green, 1 per locule.

Anthurium hebetatilaminum is known only from the western slopes of the Andes in Ecuador at 800 to 1,000 m elevation. All currently confirmed collections are from Carchi and Pichincha Provinces. The species is recognized by its appressed epiphytic habit, short internodes with only the pale bases of cataphyll fibers persisting, by its sharply sulcate, C-shaped petioles, blades 2.2--3.1 times longer than wide and matte on the lower surface, the long-pedunculate inflorescence as well as by the usually dark violet-purple spadix and violet-purple berries. At ENDESA A. hebetatilaminum is most similar to A. balslevii. That species differs in having blades semiglossy beneath and typically acute to weakly subcordate at the base and especially by having a greenish to yellowish spadix. Elsewhere the species is most easily confused with A. cuspidatum and A. oreophilum, both of which have blades of similar shape but which differ in having blades glossy on the lower surface. Tipaz et al. 1534, collected in the Awá reserve near Tobar Donoso in Esmeraldas Province, is perhaps also this species. It has the same matte lower blade surface with whitish speckles. It differs in having the collective veins 6--10 mm distant from the margin, versus 2--3 mm distant in A. hebetatilaminum from ENDESA. Another species with which this one can be confused is represented by Madison 4014 and 4040 from the Río Toachí at 900 m, an apparently undescribed species which also has the lower blade surface matte. That species differs in having the lower blade surface noticeably paler and in having a reddish brown spadix.

Anthurium hebetatilaminum is a species of plant in the family Araceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.