Rhaphidophora Decursiva = Philodendron ? NO!

From: "Peter Boyce" <P.Boyce at lion.rbgkew.org.uk> on 1997.01.08 at 16:23:05(73) Todd Saw your mail about Rhaphidophora vs Philodendron and felt driven to put finger to keyboard. Rhaphidophora hasn't been 'retired' in favour of Philodendron. Both are 'good' genera and are, in fact, not even closely related (other than both being in Araceae). Rhaphidophora is in tribe Monstereae along with Monstera, Scindapsus, Rhodospatha, Amydrium, Alloschemome, Stenospermation and Epipremnum. Tribe Monstereae is grouped with tribes Spathiphylleae (Spathiphyllum & Holochlamys), Anadendreae (Anadendrum) and Heteropsideae (Heteropsis) in subfamily Monsteroideae. Philodendron is the only genus in tribe Philodendreae and is most closely related to tribes Homalomeneae (Furtadoa and Homalomena) and Anubiadeae (Anubias) and probably also linked to tribe Culcasieae (Culcasia and Cercestis (including Rhektophyllum)), and belongs to subfamily Aroideae. +More Having bored most subscribers silly with the above, the question remains as to what the plant in Huntington is. >From your description of the leaves and, especially, the glaucous infructescences, I would GUESS that the plant IS Rhaphidophora decursiva (tropical and subtropical Himalaya, extending to N. Thailand, N. Vietnam, Laos and 'tropical' China). However, I'd need to see a specimen of the leaf and a ripe infructescence to be sure. If it is a Rhaphidophora then each ovary of the fruit would contain many small ellipsoid seeds with a smooth, rather brittle, seed coat. Another possibility is that it could be Epipremnum pinnatum is one of its MANY manifestations. Plants of E. pinnatum from Cebu, Philippines, are notably glaucous, especially the infructescences. However, the lack of leaf lamina perforations doesn't support this being E. pinnatum, which is invariably perforate. Alternatively, it might be a Monstera. Although I am not aware of a species with glaucous infructescences, I don't know Monstera at all well and you'd be best asking Tom Croat if there are any Monstera that might fit the bill. Pete P. Boyce Herbarium RBG Kew p.boyce@lion.rbgkew.org.uk

From: Todd Ruth <truth at weber.ucsd.edu> on 1997.01.08 at 22:13:57(84) Thanks for all of the info! The relations of all of those genera was particularly interesting. Would the keeper of the genera page, http://www.mobot.org/IAS/genframe.html, please make a quick check of whether the line: Rhaphidophora Hassk. = Philodendron Schott was intended? I may just be misunderstanding, but it looked like that meant Rhaphidophora had been retired. Any recommendations for a source for the kind of info that came in response to my Rhaphidophora/Philodendron questions? Is there a book which explains which genera are most related to which others and gives descriptions/pictures of numerous species? I'm most interested in Monstera, Philodendrons, and Anthuriums (and close relatives to those, eg as I've now learned Rhaphidophora). Thanks for your patience with a new-comer. I've only been raising aroids (plants in general for that matter) for about 1 and 1/2 years and the information gained from IAS/aroid-l has been very much appreciated. +More Thanks again, Todd

From: "Dr. Guanghua Zhu" <gzhu at lehmann.mobot.org> on 1997.01.09 at 18:53:51(93) Dear Todd, No, Rhaphidophora Hassk. is not a synonym of Philodendron Schott. This is a mistake clearly introduced by myself. Sorry for the confusion. I will have it fixed as soon as possible. Thank you very much for the correction. I am sure there are other errors here and there on our Web Page. Corrections are always welcomed and appreciated. I am glad that you visited our Home Page for information. I usually have the information checked before I put themon the web. However, sometimes just can not help to put them on first. For questions of such kind, The Plant Book by D. J. Mabberley (Cambridge University Press) is the best reference in general. For Araceae, the genera of Araveae by Bogner et al. (in press? I have not seen it yet) will be the master book. Please let me know if there is any one on the list is willing to help to put more information for each genus (a checklist in my mind now) for the IAS page. Don or I can provide the electronic data needed. Guanghua +More > Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 16:17:48 -0600 > Reply-to: aroid-l@mobot.org > From: Todd Ruth > To: zhu > Subject: Re: Rhaphidophora Decursiva = Philodendron ? NO! > Thanks for all of the info! The relations of all of those genera > was particularly interesting. Would the keeper of the genera page, > http://www.mobot.org/IAS/genframe.html, please make a quick check > of whether the line: > Rhaphidophora Hassk. = Philodendron Schott > was intended? I may just be misunderstanding, but it looked like > that meant Rhaphidophora had been retired. > > Any recommendations for a source for the kind of info that came > in response to my Rhaphidophora/Philodendron questions? Is there > a book which explains which genera are most related to which others > and gives descriptions/pictures of numerous species? I'm most > interested in Monstera, Philodendrons, and Anthuriums (and close > relatives to those, eg as I've now learned Rhaphidophora). > > Thanks for your patience with a new-comer. I've only been raising > aroids (plants in general for that matter) for about 1 and 1/2 years > and the information gained from IAS/aroid-l has been very much > appreciated. > > Thanks again, > Todd > > > Guanghua Zhu Missouri Botanical Garden P. O. Box 299 St. Louis, MO 63166-0299, USA Phone: (314)577-9454 Fax: (314)577-9438

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