About
Thaumatophyllum spruceanum, now usually called Philodendron goeldii, is a northern South American aroid known for hoop-shaped, deeply divided leaves and sweet edible fruit.
Care at a glance
- Pet safety
- Philodendrons are toxic to pets: chewing releases microscopic crystals that irritate the mouth and throat, causing drooling, gagging and vomiting, rarely severe throat swelling. General guidance for the genus
- People
- Not recorded.
“General guidance for the genus” marks advice sourced for the genus as a whole rather than this species.
Field notes
Morphology
Each leaf is divided into 10–20 leaflets fanned out along a curved, hoop-like axis, the central leaflet 18–50 cm long, with parallel pinnate veins. It is self-heading and tree-like, growing as a terrestrial shrub or as a hemiepiphyte perched on larger trees. The sweet fruit recalls pineapple or banana.
Distribution & habitat
Humid rainforest of northern Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela, on sandy riverbanks and forest margins or high on trees in dense forest.
History & etymology
Heinrich Wilhelm Schott described it in 1859 as Thaumatophyllum spruceanum, at first the only species in that genus. The epithet honours the botanist Richard Spruce, the first to collect it.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
- Native to
- Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- Not recorded
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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