I960] 



SPATHIPHYLLUM 



33 



benches and slopes western side of Cutucu; 2000-2500 ft ; Prov. Santiago-Zamora 

 ("Oriente") ; Cordillera Cutucu. ea. 2°40'S, 78 ? W," Ecuador; 17 Nov-5 Dec 

 1944 (holotype NY). Unicate. Known only from the type collection. 



The narrow leaf-blade of S. patulinervum, with its primary lateral veins 

 arising- nearly perpendicularly to the midrib, is so characteristic that this species 

 is described on the basis of the single unicate collection. The bimerous flowers 

 and uniovulate locnles of the ovary represent the ultimate reduction in this 

 genus. It is closely allied to 8. gracilis, which has the primary lateral veins aris- 

 ing at a strict angle to the midrib. Except the widespread 8. ea n no c folium, 

 S. patulinervum is the only species of SpathiphyUum known from Ecuador. 



Section 3. SpathiphyUum sect. Dysspathiphyllum Engl. Pflanzenreich. 4 23B : 120. 

 1908. Figure 2K 



Spathe flattened and reflexed, non-decurrent upon the peduncle ; perianth 

 membranous, of separate segments ; pistil elongate, ± oblong in profile and con- 

 spicuously exceeding the perianth, the apex short-conic or blunt, terminated by 

 a brush-like stigma. Plants 4 dm or more tall. 



Type species: SpathiphyUum huberi Engl. Bot. Jahrb. 37: 120. 1905. (S. 

 Ir umboldtii Schott.) 



Distribution : Amazonian Peru, Venezuela, and Brazil ; coastal French Guiana 

 and Suriname. 



23. S. humboldtii Schott. Aroid. 1: 2. 1853. Figures 2K, 4. 

 SpathiphyUum candollcanum Schott, Prodr. Syst. Aroid. 429. 1860. 

 SpathiphyUum glaziovii Engl. Vid. Meddel. 750. 1879-1880. 

 S path iphyll inn huberi Engl. Bot. Jahrb. 37: 120. 1905. 



Leaf-blade oblique, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate or elliptic, 20-44 cm long 

 and 5.5-14.5 cm wide, 2.5-4 times as long as wide, the apex acute-acuminate, the 

 base obtuse or acute, sometimes subrotund, the primary lateral veins many, 

 arising at an angle of ea. 45-60° ; petiole (20-) 32-68 cm long, 1-1.5 times as long- 

 as the blade, alate in the basal half or more; geniculum 1-2.5 (-3) cm long. 

 Peduncle 36-77(-96) cm long, often twice as long as the blade or longer; spathe 

 lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate (4.6-) 8-19 (-26) em long and 2-5.5 (-6.6) cm 

 wide, the apex attenuate or acuminate, the base obtuse and slightly clasping or 

 narrowed to a short handle ; spadix (1.5-)4-ll cm long, on a stipe (0. 5-) 1-3.5 cm 

 long; perianth of 4 or 5 segments, free at the apex, connate in the basal one- 

 third ; pistil elongate. ± oblong in profile, the style prominently exceeding the 

 perianth, the apex blunt or subconic, ending in an elevated brush-like stigma ; 

 ovary 2-3-locular, the ovules affixed near the base in each locule, varying from 

 (5-) 4 to 2(-l) in each of the locules and totaling 9-4 ovules per ovary; fruiting 

 spadix rough ; fruit elongate obovoid. blunt toward the apex and abruptly 

 rostellate; seeds fewer than the ovules, comma-shaped in profile or irregularly 

 compressed, the surface very verruculose and foveolate. 



Type collection: F. ^Y. Hostmann 1154, "Surinam" (lectotype K. isotypes 

 BM, G-DEL, U). The holotype was deposited at Vienna, and probably burned. 

 The Geneva sheet is labeled (perhaps erroneously) "Guyane Anglaise, 1843. " 

 Hostman is not known to have collected in British Guiana (Index Herb. 2 2 : 

 287. 1957) 



Distribution: AYet forests along the coast of Dutch and French Guiana, 

 along the Amazon River in Para. Brazil, and Loreto. Peru, and in southernmost 

 Venezuela. 



