Anthurium asplundii Croat

Usually epiphytic, sometimes terrestrial; stem to 60 cm long, 3.5-5 cm diam.; roots very dense, spreading-ascending, greenish to white, smooth, ca. 7-15 cm long, ca. 5 mm diam.; cataphylls subcoriaceous, lanceolate, straight or hooked, to 14 cm long, acuminate at apex, drying whitish to reddish brown, persisting as linear fibers. Leaves erect-spreading; petioles 7-15(25) cm long, ca. 10 mm diam., sharply D-shaped, somewhat flattened with a medial rib and sharply erect or acute margins adaxially, rounded and sometimes weakly 1-2-ribbed abaxially; geniculum moderately thicker and slightly paler than petiole, 1-3 cm long; blades coriaceous to subcoriaceous, oblanceolate to broadly oblanceolate-elliptic, acute to abruptly and shortly acuminate at apex, acute to broadly rounded or shallowly cordate at base, rarely narrowly acute, (60)90-125 cm long, 20-34 cm wide, broadest above the middle, the margins moderately undulate; upper surface semiglossy, medium green (B&K yellow-green 2/7.5), lower surface weakly glossy, moderately paler; midrib convexly raised to prominently 1-ribbed at base, becoming acutely raised toward the apex above, moderately paler than surface, convexly raised and conspicuously paler than surface below; primary lateral veins (11)16-26 per side, departing midrib at 40-50(60) degree angle, straight-ascending to very near the margin, then arcuate, frequently congested at base, convexly raised above, less conspicuously so below, paler than surface; interprimary veins usually present toward the apex and base of the blade; tertiary veins rather obscure above, less so below, drying conspicuously raised on both surfaces; reticulate veins prominulous on drying; collective vein arising from near the apex or absent, rather obscure on both surfaces, to 8 mm from margin. Inflorescences erect; peduncle (20)33-60 cm long, 3-5 mm diam., 3-6 times as long as petioles, terete; spathe reflexed, subcoriaceous, green, sometimes tinged with purple, oblong-lanceolate, (9)12-30 cm long, 1-1.7 cm wide, broadest near the base, acuminate at apex, obtuse at base; spadix dark to dull purple to maroon, sessile or stipitate to 4 cm, cylindroid, slightly tapered, somewhat curved, held at 30-50 degree angle from peduncle, 12-23 cm long, 5-6 mm diam. near base, 3-4 mm diam. near apex, broadest at the base; flowers rhombic, 1.2-2.5 mm long, 1.2-1.6 mm wide, the sides smoothly sigmoid; 6-9 flowers visible in principal spiral, 4-5(8) in alternate spiral; tepals muricate; lateral tepals 0.7-1.5 mm wide, the outer margins 2-sided, the inner margins nearly straight to rounded; pistils yellowish when dried; filaments (dried) exserted for 0.2-0.3 mm, 0.3-0.7 mm wide; anthers pinkish, 0.3-0.4 mm long, 0.4-0.5 mm wide; thecae ovate, slightly or prominently divaricate.

Anthurium asplundii is endemic to coastal Ecuador in Esmeraldas, Los Ríos and Pichincha provinces, where it occurs from near sea level to 400 m in tropical dry, tropical moist and premontane wet forest life zones. This species is distinguished by its short petioles, its large, oblanceolate leaf blades which are frequently rounded to subcordate at the base and often dry green (sometimes yellowish brown), and by its purple to maroon, often stipitate spadix. Though sometimes terrestrial, this species is usually epiphytic and in coastal Ecuador can only be confused with A. barclayanum. The latter occurs further to the south in mostly drier life zones and the more narrowly oblanceolate leaves are held in an open rosette, whereas in A. asplundii they may overlap in the lower portion and form a tight "bird's nest" rosette. In addition, the blades of A. barclayanum are usually strongly undulate, much more so than in the present species, and the cataphyll is cucullate (vs. lanceolate and straight or hooked in A. asplundii). The spadix color of A. asplundii is dark purple to maroon, and in A. barclayanum it is usually greenish.

A species which is remarkably similar in overall appearance to A. asplundii is A. harlingianum, from the eastern foothills of the Andes, mostly in Ecuador. It differs mainly in its spadix color (dark salmon-pink to pale violet-purple vs. maroon to dark purple in A. asplundii) and in having leaves which dry mostly dark brown rather than greenish. The disjunct distribution would suggest that the two are remotely related. An interesting collection is Dodson & Embree 13097, from Borbón in northern Esmeraldas, for which the spadix color is reported as "gray-white". In the dried state it is brown, not dark maroon as in other specimens. It otherwise agrees well with A. asplundi. Another somewhat aberrant plant is Harling 4465, from the Río Blanco in Pichincha, with the geniculum 3 cm remote from the base of the leaf blade.

The species is named in honor of Erick Asplund, the first Swedish botanist to collect for the Flora of Ecuador project and the first to collect A. asplundii, in 1955.