Colombia. Cauca: municipio de Lopez de Micay, resguardo indígena Calle Santa Rosa, camino entre la orilla de la quebrada Bibango, afluente del río Saija, 02°57.467'N, 77°32.967'W y el bosque primario en la parte alta de la colina 02°58.056'N, 77°32.878'W, 16–65 m de altura, 10 September 2018, Jhon Alexander Sánchez-Taborda, Luis Alfonso Ortega, Carlos Robinson Quiro, José Tovar & Jainer Mejía 3141 (Holotype CUVC!).

Figure 1. 

Illustration of Anthurium siapidaarae Zuluaga & Sánchez-Taborda, sp. nov. A habit and adult plant B leaf detail, adaxial view C inflorescence with spathe and peduncle D flower, frontal view. Illustration by Eillen Muñoz, based on the type collection J.A. Sánchez-Taborda 3141.

A. siapidaarae differs from A. caldodsonii Croat, A. boekei Croat and A. scandens (Aubl.) Engl. by having widely lanceolate leaves with acuminate apex, cuneate base, and acrodromous venation with three pairs of basal veins, one of them 0.3–1 mm from the margin (versus leaves acuminate apex, cuneate base, and acrodromous venation with two pairs of basal veins).

Figure 2. 

Anthurium siapidaarae Zuluaga & Sánchez-Taborda, sp. nov. A habit of living plant showing leaves and cataphylls B inflorescence. (Photographs by Jhon A. Sánchez-Taborda).

Epiphytic climbing herb; roots loose and spreading, slender, brown; stems cylindrical, green, drying green-brown; internodes 3–4.5 cm long, (2.7–) 3.7–4.4 mm diam when dry, weakly glossy, green, drying grayish-green; cataphylls 4–5.6 cm long, acuminate at apex, brown and glossy, drying light brown mate, persistent as fibers at the upper nodes, with only a few fibers remaining at basal nodes. Leaves scattered along stem; petioles ribbed canaliculate adaxially, (3.2-) 4.2–5.6 cm long, 0.2–0.3 mm diam, olive green, drying grayish-green; sheath 3–4 mm long, 2–4 mm width at midpoint, occupying less than ¼ the length of the petiole; geniculum 3–6 mm long, 3 mm diam, green, darker than the petiole and drying dark-brown; blades coriaceous, 4.6–7 cm long, 2.8–4.4 cm wide, 1.2–1.4 times longer than wide, widely lanceolate, acuminate at apex, cuneate at base, adaxial surface glossy dark-green, abaxial surface glossy light-green, black punctations present on both sides, margins slightly revolute; midrib impress and slightly paler above, prominent and dark green below; basal veins 2 per side when the plant is young, 3 per side when adult, one of them, the marginal collective vein, 0.3–1 mm from the margin; primary lateral veins 8–9 per side when the plant is young, 13 when adult, arising at an angle of 35–40° degree, concolorous and impress above, prominent and discolorous below. Inflorescence pendant; peduncle curved, cylindrical, slightly striate longitudinally, 8.5 cm long, 0.3 cm diam, 1.7 times longer than the petiole, reddish, weakly glossy, drying brown; spathe reddish and glossy, coming out at a 70° angle to the spadix, 1.7 cm long, 0.5 cm wide, lanceolate, with acuminate apex and decurrent base; stipe cylindrical ca. 2 mm long, 3 mm diam, green yellow, drying grayish-green; spadix light yellow, erect, cylindrical, 2.4 cm long, 0.4–0.5 cm diam, 1.4 times longer than spathe; flowers 5–6 in the principal spiral, 9–10 in the secondary spiral, outline rhombic in frontal view, ca 1.5 mm diam; tepals yellow to reddish, weakly glossy, drying dark-brown, 0.4 mm long, 0.7 mm wide when dry; pistil ca 1.3 mm diam, stigma capitate ca 0.4 mm diam with trichomes; stamens slightly exserted, filament short, anthers 0.3 mm wide; fruits not seen.

Figure 3. 

Distribution of Anthurium siapidaarae Zuluaga & Sánchez-Taborda, sp. nov. Boundaries of the Calle Santa Rosa Indigenous Reservation are shown in red, the area of the Kõkõi Eujã Natural Traditional Reserve in yellow. The star shows the locality where the species was collected.

Anthurium siapidaarae is endemic to Colombia, only known from the type locality in the municipality of López de Micay, Cauca. This species inhabits the Tropical Rain Forest between 30 and 100 m above sea level. A. siapidaarae is locally scarce, growing as an epiphyte inside dense forest with a closed canopy that exceeds 35 m in height, dominated by species of the genera Protium Burm. f., Pouteria Aubl., Ficus L., Otoba (A. DC.) H. Karst., Ocotea Aubl. and Inga Mill.

Anthurium siapidaarae was found flowering in September.

Anthurium siapidaarae is named after the indigenous community inhabiting the Calle Santa Rosa Indigenous Reservation. They belong to the Eperãra Siapidaarã people who live in the departments of Valle del Cauca, Cauca and Nariño in southwest Colombia. The word Siapidaara makes reference to the language Sia Pedeé spoken by these indigenous people.

Anthurium siapidaarae is only known from one locality, where it is not abundant. Its populations are under protection thanks to the Kõkõi Eujã Natural Traditional Reserve, which has an area of 11641 ha (ca 115 km²). Despite being under protection, there are several pressures affecting the conservation of these forests, especially the increase of illegal crops surrounding the reservation and deforestation, which had a rate of 7.8 ha per year between 2001–2018 within the protected area (Paz et al. 2019). Under the IUCN criteria (IUCN 2017) we consider this species should be listed as Vulnerable.

Anthurium siapidaarae could belong to sections Tetraspermium (Schott) Engl. Or Digitinervium Sodiro. The main character of section Tetraspermium is the presence of four seeds per fruit, so we cannot be completely sure of this placement due to the absence of fruits in the samples. There are also some similarities with species from section Digitinervium, mainly the thick leaves with glandular punctations, and three pairs of acrodromous veins. It is most similar to A. caldodsonii, A. boekei, endemic from Ecuador and A. scandens, a widespread species. All four species share the characters of section Tetraspermium, having scandent habit, long internodes, persistent fibrous cataphylls at least in the terminal nodes, and small leaves with a glandular-punctate lower surface. A. siapidaarae differs from the other species by having acrodromous venation with three pairs of basal veins, one of which, the collective marginal vein, is 0.3–1 mm from the margin (vs acrodromous venation with two pairs of basal veins in all other three species). It also differs from A. caldodsonii and A. boekei, only know from Ecuador, by having lanceolate leaves less than 1.4 times longer than wide, with acuminate apex and cuneate base (versus ovate to ovate-elliptical leaves, with truncate base and apex), and from A. scandens, by having a peduncle 8.5 cm long (vs. 1.5–6.5 cm long).

Colombia. Cauca: municipio de López de Micay, resguardo indígena Calle Santa Rosa, camino entre la orilla de la quebrada Bibango, afluente del río Saija, 02°57.467'N, 77°32.967'W y el bosque primario en la parte alta de la colina 02°58.056'N, 77°32.878'W, 16–65 m de altura. 11 September 2018, Jhon Alexander Sánchez-Taborda, José Tovar & Jainer Mejía 3245 (CUVC).