[Aroid-l] Philodendron williamsii. It isn't what mostcollectors

From: Steve at ExoticRainforest.com (ExoticRainforest) on 2008.04.15 at 21:53:12(17396) It certainly does for me Leland. Most of this I knew already due to my numerous exchanges with Eduardo Gon?alves in Brazil, with Julius and with Dr. Croat but you just gave me some new material I can add to the pages to make it all clearer. I truly hope the individual who wrote to tell me the page on Philodendron williamsii is wrong is on this forum. Once I answered they never responded again. I try my best to be accurate and love to be able to quote material from you, Dr. Croat, Julius, Eduardo, Ron Weeks, Joep Moonen and others since I fear people who are new to aroids will just accept some of the confusing material found on the net. Much of the information easily found is simply inaccurate. I also know many people consider me a quack and I certainly make no claim to be an aroid expert. I'm just privileged to know a bunch of you guys and gals who truly are aroid experts! Thanks for the input. I'll certainly be editing some of this into the appropriate pages. Steve Lucas +More www.ExoticRainforest.com Dear Steve, Aloha. I think that a lot of the confusion of Philodendron williamsii, Philodendron spiritus-sancti, and Philodendron stenolobum arise out the geography of the area. First of all, the name P. spiritus-sancti is derived from the state of Espirito Santo, Brazil. Philodendron spiritus-sancti is found near the town of Domingo Martins, Espirito Santo state, Brazil. North of this town is the town of Santa Leopoldina...a source of much confusion for a host of Philodendron horticultural names. Further to the north is the town of Santa Theresa....which is where the Augusto Ruschi Museum is. I do not know the exact limits of the distribution of Philodendron stenolobum , but we found it as we approached the region of the Rio Doce, in Espirito Santo state. At the time, Philodendron stenolobum was thought to be Philodendron williamsii because Simon Mayo was actively working on Meconostigma. I met him at Roberto Burle-Marx's sitio before he published his treatment. In fairness to Simon Mayo, he had to work with only a few specimens and incomplete material. He also thought that the Espirito Santo state plants differed from the Brazilian state of Bahia population...which is where the true Philodendron williamsii is found. Bahia state is to the north of Espirito Santo state. Northern Esprito Santo and Southern Bahia have a really interesting floral link. To add to the confusion, Philodendron stenolobum has been referred in the horticulture trade as Philodendron 'Espirito Santo'. I hope this clarifies the situation a bit. Aloha, Leland -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid-l/attachments/20080415/7c6ffff7/attachment.htm

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