Anthurium obscurinervium Croat

Epiphytic or terrestrial; stem to more than 30 cm long, 1–3.5 cm diam.; roots dense, short, ca. 3 mm diam.; cataphylls subcoriaceous, 4–9 cm long, acute to acuminate at apex, drying whitish (B & K yellow 9/2.5 to yellow-red 9/7.5), persisting as linear fibers. Leaves spreading; petioles (3.5)6–22 cm long, 4–10 mm diam., sharply D-shaped, slightly thicker than broad, sharply flattened to broadly and shallowly sulcate adaxially, the margins sharply raised to curved inward, rounded to obtusely or acutely angular, sometimes 1-ribbed abaxially; geniculum somewhat thicker and much paler to darker than petiole, 0.7–1.7 cm long; blades subcoriaceous, narrowly oblong-elliptic to oblong-linear, long-acuminate to short-acuminate (rarely acute) at apex, attenuate to narrowly acute at base, (18)30–79 cm long, (3.2)4–7(11) cm wide, broadest at or near the middle, the margins flat, weakly revolute; upper surface semiglossy, medium to dark green, lower surface glossy, much paler; midrib convexly raised at base, becoming acutely raised toward the apex above, prominently and acutely raised at base, becoming less pronounced toward the apex below; primary lateral veins 25–55 per side, departing midrib at 40–50 degree angle, straight to the collective vein, obscure and flat above and below; interprimary veins numerous, almost as conspicuous as primary lateral veins; tertiary veins drying visible; collective vein arising from the base, slightly more prominent than primary lateral veins, 4–6 mm from margin. Inflorescences erect-spreading; peduncle 20–45 cm long, 2–4 mm diam., 1.6–4(5.5) times as long as petiole, pale green, sometimes tinged purplish, subterete to 3–4-ribbed; spathe spreading, rarely reflexed, thin, green to pale green, sometimes tinged with purple at margins, lanceolate-elliptic to linear-lanceolate, (2.5)3–7 cm long, 0.7–1.7 cm wide, broadest near the base, short-acuminate at apex (the acumen somewhat inrolled), acute at base; stipe 2–13 mm long in front and in back; spadix medium green (B & K yellow-green 7/5) to pale green, cylindroid, scarcely tapered, curved, (1.7)4–11(15) cm long, 3–6 mm diam. near base, 2–3 mm diam. near apex; flowers 4-lobed; 2–3 mm in both directions, the sides jaggedly sigmoid, 3–5 flowers visible in principal spiral, 5–7 in alternate spiral; tepals matte, weakly and minutely papillate, droplets present at anthesis; lateral tepals 1–1.8 mm wide, the inner margins straight to broadly rounded, the outer margins irregularly 3–5-sided; pistils weakly raised, green; stigma depressed, 0.2–0.4 mm long; stamens emerging in prompt sequence from the base, the laterals preceding the alternates by 3–11 spirals, held in a tight cluster above the pistil; filaments translucent, 0.4 mm long, 0.5–0.7 mm wide; anthers creamy white, 0.6–0.7 mm long, 0.7–0.9 mm wide; thecae ellipsoid to ovoid, scarcely divaricate; pollen pale yellow fading to white. Infructescence erect to pendent; spathe persisting, green, or absent; spadix 7–16 cm long; berries green becoming purplish to purple-black, obovoid-ellipsoid, quadrangular at apex, 6 mm long, 5 mm diam.

A member of series Multinervii, Anthurium obscurinervium is endemic to the Pacific slope of Ecuador, at 50 to 1,330 (2,000) m, in premontane moist, premontane dry and premontane wet forest. This species is characterized by its more or less oblong leaf blades with the primary lateral veins obscure when fresh and obscure to weakly raised on drying, green spadix with exserted stamens, and orange berries. Anthurium obscurinervium is most similar to A. carchiense, which differs in having a brownish spadix and purple to purple﷓black fruits.