Anthurium Start PageContentsAbstractsDistribution of Anthurium

Materials and Acknowledgments

The terminology and usage in the descriptions in this paper are denned in "Standardization of Anthurium Descriptions" (Croat & Bunting, 1979). Colors referenced in the descriptions that follow are taken from the color chart by Berlin and Kay (1969). This color chart, available from the University of California Press, is a reproduction of the Munsell Color Array of 40 hues, at maximum saturation, with nine degrees of brightness. The B & K (Berlin & Kay) color chart, as it is referred to here, represents 40 hues in the vertical columns and 9 degrees of brightness in the horizontal rows. Colors are arranged in 10 basic clusters with 4 different hues per cluster, ranging from red through yellow, green, blue, purple, and finally red-purple. The four columns for each color cluster are numbered 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10. These numbers are repeated for each basic color type. The colors from the B & K color chart are read by first reporting the color, then the row followed by the column. For example, the third color in the fifth row in the red area would be called Red 5/7.5. The second color in the eighth row would be called Red 8/5. I have preceded the color references by B & K to indicate which color chart is being used.

Although a more complete discussion of flowering behavior of Anthurium has been published elsewhere (Croat, 1980), mention should be made here of the descriptions of flowering behavior, especially with regard to the development ofstig-matic droplets and the progressive development of stamens. Most observations reported here are based on the study of cultivated material, and references to the degree ofaccumulatiop ofstig-matic fluid might be inaccurate in the absence of pollinators to remove it. Nevertheless, these observations show that important laxonomic characters are exhibited by the timing and amount of stigmatic fluid and particularly by the developmental sequence of the stamens. They arc therefore recorded here as part of the description of the species where they have been observed.

All estimates of ecological zones given in this paper are based on either Holdridge Life Zone maps for most Central American countries and for Panama or on the "Mapa de tipos de vegetacion de la Republica Mexicana" (Flores et al., 1971). As yet no study has been made to correlate the vegetation types represented on the Mexican map with those of the Holdridge Life Zone system. For an understanding of this system see Holdridge, cl al. (1971)