Thaumatophyllum spruceanum is noted for its unusually hoop-shaped, parallel-
pinnately veined,
pedately divided leaves;[2] these are similar to those of the
sympatric species Thaumatophyllum leal-costae.[3] Each leaf consists of 10-20 leaflets, with the central leaflet 18–50 cm long.[4]
T. spruceanum is self-heading (arborescent or tree-like) and occurs both as a terrestrial
shrub in sandy soil along
riverbanks and
forest margins, and as a hemiepiphyte atop larger trees in dense forest.[5]
The fruit of T. spruceanum is edible and sweet, reminiscent of
pineapple or
banana.[5]
Taxonomy
The specific epithet spruceanum refers to botanist
Richard Spruce, credited as being the first to collect specimens of the plant from the
Amazon rainforest in 1851.[6]
Thaumatophyllum was originally erected as a
monotypic genus in 1859, containing only T. spruceanum.[7] The species was later moved to Philodendron in 1962 by Graziela M. Barroso, placed alongside other members of what was then the
subgenusMeconostigma.[8]Molecular phylogenetics research led by Cassia Sakuragui at the
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro resulted in the recognition of Meconostigma as monophyletic 2018, and the subsequent resurrection of Thaumatophyllum, with Meconostigma species being placed within it.[4]
^
abSakuragui, Cassia Mônica; Calazans, Luana Silva Braucks; Oliveira, Leticia Loss de; Morais, Érica Barroso de; Benko-Iseppon, Ana Maria; Vasconcelos, Santelmo; Schrago, Carlos Eduardo Guerra & Mayo, Simon Joseph (2018), "Recognition of the genus Thaumatophyllum Schott − formerly Philodendron subg. Meconostigma (Araceae) − based on molecular and morphological evidence", PhytoKeys (98): 51–71,
doi:10.3897/phytokeys.98.25044,
PMC5943393,
PMID29750071
Thaumatophyllum spruceanum is noted for its unusually hoop-shaped, parallel-
pinnately veined,
pedately divided leaves;[2] these are similar to those of the
sympatric species Thaumatophyllum leal-costae.[3] Each leaf consists of 10-20 leaflets, with the central leaflet 18–50 cm long.[4]
T. spruceanum is self-heading (arborescent or tree-like) and occurs both as a terrestrial
shrub in sandy soil along
riverbanks and
forest margins, and as a hemiepiphyte atop larger trees in dense forest.[5]
The fruit of T. spruceanum is edible and sweet, reminiscent of
pineapple or
banana.[5]
Taxonomy
The specific epithet spruceanum refers to botanist
Richard Spruce, credited as being the first to collect specimens of the plant from the
Amazon rainforest in 1851.[6]
Thaumatophyllum was originally erected as a
monotypic genus in 1859, containing only T. spruceanum.[7] The species was later moved to Philodendron in 1962 by Graziela M. Barroso, placed alongside other members of what was then the
subgenusMeconostigma.[8]Molecular phylogenetics research led by Cassia Sakuragui at the
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro resulted in the recognition of Meconostigma as monophyletic 2018, and the subsequent resurrection of Thaumatophyllum, with Meconostigma species being placed within it.[4]
^
abSakuragui, Cassia Mônica; Calazans, Luana Silva Braucks; Oliveira, Leticia Loss de; Morais, Érica Barroso de; Benko-Iseppon, Ana Maria; Vasconcelos, Santelmo; Schrago, Carlos Eduardo Guerra & Mayo, Simon Joseph (2018), "Recognition of the genus Thaumatophyllum Schott − formerly Philodendron subg. Meconostigma (Araceae) − based on molecular and morphological evidence", PhytoKeys (98): 51–71,
doi:10.3897/phytokeys.98.25044,
PMC5943393,
PMID29750071