Spathiphyllum pygmaeum

Plant small, 13 – 17 cm tall, perennial. Stem short, upright. Roots of first order strong, 1.8 – 2.2 mm in diam. Leaves many (10 – 15), in a rosette, middle green; petiole 5 – 7 cm long, above the sheath c. 2 mm in diam., middle green, canaliculate on upper side, sheath 4.5 – 6.5 cm long and reaching nearly the geniculum, membranous, light green, apex rounded, distance between the sheath and geniculum only 2 – 5 mm long; geniculum 4 – 5 mm long, slightly thicker than petiole and underneath whitish green; leaf blade narrowly elliptic, 7 – 10 cm long and 1.6 – 2.4 cm wide, middle green above and somewhat lighter coloured underneath, base cuneate, apex acuminate; venation parallel-pinnate, midvein very strong and somewhat lighter coloured above but whitish green underneath, primary lateral veins 3 – 5 on each side of the midvein, second order veins between them and only slightly thinner, third order veins very thin and inconspicuous. Inflorescence shorter than the leaves; peduncle c. 8 cm long and c. 1.8 mm in diam., terete, green, mostly enclosed by the sheath of the preceding leaf and projecting for only c. 1 cm beyond; spathe narrowly elliptic, c. 3 cm long and 0.9 cm wide, pure white on both sides but midvein light green, base decurrent, apex c. 0.8 cm long, green, margin of spathe recurved; stipe of spadix c. 1 cm long and 1.2 mm in diam., green; spadix subcylindric to slightly conoid (narrowing towards apex), c. 2 cm long and to c. 0.5 cm in diam. Flowers bisexual, c. 1.8 mm in diam.; tepals 6, truncate, c. 1.5 mm long, upper part green and 0.8 mm wide, lower part white; gynoecium c. 2 mm long, ovary obovoid, 1.4 – 1.5 mm long, in upper part 1.3 – 1.4 mm in diam., at base c. 0.9 mm in diam., 2-locular; ovules anatropous, 1 ovule in each locule, c. 0.5 mm long; style conoid, white, c. 0.5 mm long, exserted from the tepals, stigma small, disk-like, c. 0.4 mm in diam., whitish when fresh, becoming brownish; tissue of gynoecium with many trichoslereids; stamens 6, filament flat, 1 – 1.1 mm long 0.7 – 0.8 mm wide, shorter than the tepals during the female stage, elongated to about 1.5 mm length at maturity (in the male stage), white, somewhat trapezoid (broader above and narrower below), thecae exserted above the tepals at anthesis, nearly rectangular, c. 0.7 mm long and 0.5 – 0.6 mm wide, opening by a slit; pollen (Fig. 2) ellipsoid, 25 – 28 μm long and 21 – 22 μm wide, polyaperturate, exine striate. Chromosome number. – 2n = 30 were counted in the cultivated plant from which the holotype (Bogner 3002, M) was prepared.