RE: [Aroid-l] Philodendron 'Santa Leopoldina'

**&* G* <e*@hotmail.com>**

Dear Ted,

 We visited Robert Kautsky, the original collector of the nomenclatural

type of P. spiritus-sancti. He gave the plant George Bunting described. We

observed the cultivated specimen he still keeps on his farm (from which dry

specimens were prepared) and we spotted similar material around. We have

been collecting in Espirito Santo state for years and we could only found

this species in Kautsky's farm. Obviously we used classic taxonomic

characters to ID it, including sections on flowers. That was not that hard

because there is no other species that could be REALLY confused with P.

spiritus-sancti, although you can confuse many species under the popular

"loose" definition of "Santa Leopoldina". Right now we are using clones of

the type specimen to make a profile based on the "DNA barcode" concept, in

order to make identifications of P. spiritus-sancti more reliable.

Unfortunately, the "real" identity of P. "Santa Leopoldina" will be hard to

find out, mainly because you can't extract DNA from an horticultural legend!

      Very best wishes,

                                Eduardo.

Dr. Eduardo G. Goncalves
Universidade Catolica de Brasilia
Curso de Ciencias Biologicas
Sala M-206, QS 7, Lote 1, EPTC
CEP 72030-170, Taguatinga ? DF, BRAZIL.

From: ted.held@us.henkel.com
Reply-To: Discussion of aroids <aroid-l@gizmoworks.com>
To: Discussion of aroids <aroid-l@gizmoworks.com>
Subject: [Aroid-l] Philodendron 'Santa Leopoldina'
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2007 14:33:15 -0500

All,

OK. So how reliable are the reports of the remaining P. spiritu-sancti in
the wild? What distinguishing marks should we be looking for? I have been
looking at the pictures in the postings and they vary quite a bit. How do
I know a real one when I see it? On what basis do the searchers in Brazil
make their determinations? Maybe the only plants left are examples of one
or another of the sham plants.

Ted.

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