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

From: Steve at ExoticRainforest.com (ExoticRainforest) on 2008.04.18 at 13:30:55(17420) I thought I'd offer a follow up to all of you Philodendron collectors on the response I'm getting to the explanation I made about Philodendron williamsii being very different from the plant often sold with that name (which is Philodendron stenolobum). I've received two very interesting responses this week. The first came from a collector in regard to a similar post I made on the UBC Botanical Garden plant forum. That collector was insistent that I was wrong as well as Leland who I quoted and also Dr. Eduardo Gon?alves since they found the name Philodendron williamsii under a photo of Philodendron stenolobum in Graf's Exotica. In their opinion Graf was the ultimate expert. I'm sorry to report, but most botanical experts discount many listings in Graf's books as inaccurate. I sent that person this response from Dr.Gon?alves, which he sent to Julius Boos in response to a question from Julius, "All horticultural "P. williamsii" is now P. stenolobum. The real P. williamsii is a completely different species, occurring in coastal Bahia state and is rather rare. I don?t have it in cultivation and I have never seen a living specimen in any collection I have visited. It looks like a P. speciosum (or like a huge P. corcovadense), but is somewhat smaller in overall dimensions. I have collected it twice in southern Bahia and I have seen a few more collections in Herbarium. Philodendron stenolobum is only known from Espirito Santo state and is much more common, being found by me in many different localities. I don?t know when or where the confusion began, but P. stenolobum is called P. williamsii in lots of old publications (including Graf?s Exotica). Simon in his revision of Philodendron Meconostigma included P. stenolobum specimens in P. williamsii, probably because he hadn?t enough go od material of P. stenolobum to be sure it was a different thing." I got no response. I also ran across a listing on eBay this week for a specimen of Philodendron stumblebum but the seller was calling it Philodendron williamsii. That seller sent a very nice response but assured me they were sure their name was right since several Philodendron experts in Miami has told them the correct name was Philodendron williamsii. This only points out how many people use the wrong name on this plant. I sent that individual Dr. Gon?alves quote as well. It is unlikely I'll ever make much of a dent in this common error in names, but I'm trying and hope all of you will change your tags if you have the wrong name on a specimen. It isn't bad to be wrong if you have a wrong name on a tag. Its a simple thing to change the tag and try to learn the correct information. And that is all I ever wanted to do by bringing up this subject. Steve Lucas +More www.ExoticRainforest.com Dear Aroid-l, Aloha. I thought I should give the two references which would clarify this question of Philodendron stenolobum and Philodendron williamsii. They are both species of the subgenus, Meconostigma, and are written up in the following publications. Dr. Simon Mayo of KEW, wrote the revision of the subgenus, Meconostigma in 1991. He did not split Philodendron stenolobum from Philodendron williamsii...but he did note the differences and thought that two taxa may be involved between the Espirito Santo state plants and the Bahia state populations. He did not have the fertile material of Philodendron stenolobum to compare. Mayo, S.J. 1991. A Revision of Philodendron subgenus Meconostigma (Araceae). KEW Bull. 46 (4):601-681. Dr. Eduardo G. Gonsalves, described Philodendron stenolobum as new in 2002. Gonsalves,E.G. & E.R. Salviani , 2002. New Species and Changing Concepts of Philodendron subgenus Meconostigma (Araceae). Aroidiana, Vol 25. pp. 2-15. If there are disputes, these treatments should clarify them. Aloha, Leland --- brian lee wrote: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid-l/attachments/20080418/903f39dd/attachment-0001.htm

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