XOV 1960 MEMOIRS OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN 10(3):l-53 



A REVISION OF SPATHIPHYLLUM (ARACEAE) 



George S. Bunting 



Missouri Botanical Garden 

 St. Louis, Missouri 



INTRODUCTION 



The genus Spathiphyllum forms an inconspicuous element in the flora of 

 tropical America, although it is widespread from Mexico to Peru and Brazil. 

 Two species occur only on Pacific islands, one on Cocos Island (some 300 miles 

 off the Costa Rican coast) and another in Indonesia and the Philippines. Most 

 species of Spathiphyllum grow at elevations between 100 and 1000 m above sea 

 level, frequently in the foothills of mountains or in river valleys. They are 

 plants of permanently wet or moist, shady places that may be inundated at times. 

 They often form colonies along the margins of rivers and streams. 



Attempts to identify recent Guayanan collections and other material of 

 Spathiphyllum suggested the need to further investigate the classification of this 

 genus. Subsequently, about 1000 specimens were critically examined. Deep ap- 

 preciation is expressed to the directors and curators of the many herbaria from 

 which specimens were borrowed. 1 



HISTORY OF THE GENUS 



Before the publication of Spathiphyllum in 1832, two species had been de- 

 scribed that are now included in this genus. Jacquin in 1790 (Collectanea 4: 118) 

 described Dracontium lanceaefolium. In 1803, Pothos cannae folia was clearly 

 illustrated and characterized in Curtis's Botanical Magazine (pi. 603). 



Schott, having described Spathiphyllum in 1832 (Melet. Bot. 22), listed "Sip. 

 lanceaefolium Schtt. (Dracontium lanceaefolium Jacq.)" and "Sp. sagittae- 

 folium Schtt." It appears that he followed Sprengel, who in his revision of 

 Linnaeus' Systema naturae (Syst. Veg. 3: 766. 1826) had included these two 

 species in the genus Draco nti ion along with D. podophyllum L. Schott correctly 

 excluded the last species. 



The two species included with the original description of Spathiphyllum are 

 not congeneric, though both have trimerous flowers with perianth, a superficially 

 acaulescent habit, and long petioles geniculate at the apex. Schott 's treatment 

 was followed by Endlicher (Gen. PI. 1: 240. 1836) and bv Kunth (Enum. PI. 

 3: 83. 1841). 



In 1849, Liebmann described the genus Hydnostachyon (Vid. Meddel. 1-2: 

 23), differentiated from Spathiphyllum by its unilocular ovary. Critical examina- 

 tion of the specimens referred to that genus fails to verify this unilocular condi- 

 tion. Schott placed Hydnostachyon in synonymy under Spathiphyllum in 1853. 



Abbreviations for herbaria used in the text are those of Lanjouw and Stafleu, Index 

 Herb. 2(1):106-117 (1952). 



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