Spathiphyllum cannaefolium (Dryand.) Schott

  • Authority

    Bunting, George S. 1960. A revision of Spathiphyllum (Araceae). Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 10: 1-54.

  • Family

    Araceae

  • Scientific Name

    Spathiphyllum cannaefolium (Dryand.) Schott

  • Description

    Species Description - Leaf-blade typically oblique, narrowly to broadly oblanceolate varying to elliptic, 25-45 (-52) cm long and (5-) 8-16 (-24) cm wide, commonly widest above the middle, the apex acute or acuminate, or broadly rounded and ending in a deltoid cusp, the base mostly long-cuneate or simply acute; primary lateral veins many, close together, arising at an angle of 35-45°; petiole equaling the blade, 18-40 (-59) cm long, prominently alate quite to the geniculum or less, the wing apically auriculate, early deteriorating into fibrous remains on older leaves; geniculum (1.2-)2-3.5(-5) cm long. Peduncle mostly 1.5-2 times as long as the blade, 35-70(-100) cm long; spathe reflexed, typically lanceolate, varying to oblong or elliptic, 10-22(-28) cm long and 2.5-6.5(-9) cm wide, the apex short- to long-acuminate, the base commonly cuneate to somewhat obtuse, ±clasping the peduncle or narrowed into a short handle, white above, green below; spadix 4.5-12(-20) cm long, smooth, on a stipe 0.5-2(-3) cm long; perianth formed into a fleshy, 4-6-sided truncate cup, nearly concealing the pistil and stamens within; pistil cylindric-obpyramidal, the apex truncate, the stigma coronate; anthers exserted in anthesis; ovary 3(-4)-locular, the ovules ± collateral, affixed on a sub-basal pad in each locule, varying from 6-2 in each of the 3 locules, totaling (24-) 19-6 ovules per ovary; fruiting spadix smooth; fruit spheroid, the apex truncate; seeds as many as the ovules, mostly irregularly ovoid and very angular, to 3.5 mm long and half as wide, the surface furrowed and foveolate, especially on the outer face, the ridges irregular and verruculose.

    Distribution and Ecology - Distribution: Widespread in moist forests of northern South America, throughout the Guayana highlands westward to the base of the Andes, northward to the Atlantic coast in Venezuela, eastward to Trinidad and British Guiana, but apparently absent from the Amazon basin east of the Rio Negro.

  • Discussion

    Figure 4.

    Pothos cannaefolia Dryand. Bot. Mag. 17: pi. 603. 1803.

    Pothos cannaeformis H. B. K. Nova Gen. Sp. 1: 76. 1815.

    Monstera cannaefolia Kunth, Enum. PI. 3: 61 (p.p.). 1841.

    Spathiphyllum candicans Poepp. & Endl. Nova Gen. Sp. PI. 3: 85. pl. 295. 1845.

    Massowia cannaefolia C. Koch, Bot. Zeit. 10: 277-278. 1852.

    Spathiphyllum bonplandii Schott, Oesterr. Bot. Wochenbl. 7: 158. 1857.

    Anthurium dechardi Andre, 111. Hortic. 24: 28. pl. 159. 1877.

    Massowia dechardi Koch, Gard. Chron. II. 10: 623. 1878.

    Spathiphyllum carmaeforme (Curtis) Engl, in Mart. Fl. Bras. 32: 103. pl. 16, fig. 2. 1879-1882.

    Type Collection: "Hort. Kew, 1790." (holotype BM). Though described from a plant growing in the Royal Garden at Kew, the original description (Bot. Mag. 17: pi. 603.1803) states that " a specimen which flowered there in the month of April 1790, is preserved in the Banksian Herbarium."

    Ceiba, along shore of Lake Maracaibo, Dec 1931, Beed 916 (US): Zulia: Perija, Gines 1920 (US).

    CULT.. Hort. Kew., 31 Jul 1878, labeled "Anthurium Dechardi Andre."

    Vernacular names: Colombia (Vaupes): " pee-ka-sa-la-ree" (Gwanano); "a-na-too-roo," "'to-mee-ka-ma-re" (Kubeo) ; "pee-a-ro," "ka-po" (Tukano). Trinidad: " Arum Lily." Venezuela: "picaton" (Delta Amacuro) ; "saca frio" (Merida); "vainilla" (Monagas, Sucre).

    This is a very distinct species, widely separated geographically from closely related species by the Andes and the Pacific Ocean. The original material sent to Kew in 1789 apparently was not a "native of the West-India Islands," as stated in Gurtis's Botanical Magazine (pi. 603. 1803). Not a single collection from any West Indian island is known, except from Trinidad, which is floristically related to continental South America rather than to the Antilles. It would therefore seem that the British colonials passed the plant from Trinidad to St. Vincent before it was sent to England.

    In this genus S. cannaefolium is the most widely distributed species, but it varies remarkably little except in size, despite its wide range. In Trinidad the species reaches its maximum stature, and the leaves are proportionally broader (about twice to two and one-half times as long as wide).. The specimens found neai' the Rio Orinoco from Puerto Ayacuchq to Cerro Duida are small; the smallest specimens seen were collected on the slopes of the sandstone tabletop mountains of Venezuela (in which the leaf-ratio varies to four times as long as wide).

    This species differs from S. commutatum by its narrower leaves wliich are typically oblanceolate and widest above the middle. The spathe is commonly wider in this species than in S. laeve.