Hemiepiphytic. Stem appressed-climbing; internodes short, semiglossy, 1–4 cm long, 1.5–2.5 cm diam., longer than broad, green to gray-green, drying yellow-brown; roots moderately numerous per node, drying dark brown, ridged. Cataphylls 12–35 cm long, unribbed, sometimes sharply 1-ribbed near apex (sharply 2-ribbed in South America), medium green, drying light to medium brown, persisting semi-intact at upper nodes, then deciduous with large patches of yellow-brown periderm remaining intact; petioles 27–75 cm long, 0.8–1.8 cm diam., more or less terete, obtusely flattened adaxially, spongy (in South America), dark green to gray-green, surface semiglossy to matte, transversely fissured near apex, drying pale yellow-brown. Leaves erect-spreading; blades ovate-triangular, subcoriaceous, abruptly acuminate at apeax, cordate-sagittate at base, 24–63 cm long, 19–44 cm wide (1.1–2.3 times longer than wide), (0.7–1.2 times longer than petiole), equal to or longer than petiole, margins concave, broadly undulate, upper surface semiglossy, dark green, drying conspicuously yellow-brown, semiglossy, lower surface opaque whitish, matte, paler; anterior lobe 19.5–49.5 cm long, 14.5–42 cm wide (1.9–3.6 times longer than posterior lobes); posterior lobes 7.1–20.2 cm long, 7.3–20.5 cm wide, obtuse to rounded; midrib broadly concave, paler than surface above, thicker than broad, weakly glossy, darker than surface below; basal veins 6 per side, with 1–2 free to base, second and third veins coalesced ca. 3 cm; posterior rib naked for 2.5–3.5 cm long; primary lateral veins 6–11 per side, departing midrib at a 35–50xv degree angle, weakly sunken above, convex and darker than surface below; minor veins moderately distinct, fine, intermittent below, arising from both the midrib and primary lateral veins. Inflorescences 1–5 per axil; peduncle 4–11 cm long, 4–11 mm diam., white-lineate to coarsely white-streaked toward apex and on spathe base. Spathe 11–17.5 cm long, 2–3.5 cm diam. (1.3–3.1 times longer than peduncle), white-speckled, semiglossy, constricted above the tube, 9–11 mm diam. at constriction; spathe blade green to whitish, sometimes rose-red outside, green to whitish or sometimes rose-red and white-speckled inside; spathe tube oblong-ellipsoid, 4–7 cm long, usually dark green or sometimes purple to violet-purple to red or pinkish outside, reddish to pale violet-purple (dark maroon=SoAm) inside. Spadix white, cylindrical, 12.9–16.6 cm long, broadest near the base, constricted near the middle; pistillate portion whitish, cylindrical to ovoid, 3.8–8.9 cm long, 7–16 mm diam.; staminate portion 9.3–13.4 cm long; fertile staminate portion cylindrical, 8–13 mm diam., broadest at the base, narrower than pistillate and sterile portions; sterile staminate portion as broad as or narrower than the pistillate portion, 1–1.3 cm diam.; pistils glossy, 2.1–4(5.8) mm long, 1.2–2.6 mm diam.; ovary (4)5–8-locular, walls embedded with granular, crystal-like particles, locules 1.3–3.2(4.5) mm long, 0.4–0.6 mm diam., with axile placentation; ovules (4)20–24 per locule, arranged in series of 2, 0.2 mm long, about equal in length to funicle; funicle 0.1 mm long, adnate to lower part of axillar wall, style 0.4–0.7 mm long, 1.2–2.6 mm diam., similar to style type B; style apex flat or rounded; stigma subdiscoid, 1–1.5 mm diam., 0.2–0.5 mm high, covering center of style apex; the androecium truncate, margins 4–6-sided, sometimes scalloped; thecae oblong, 0.3–0.4 mm wide, contiguous, more or less parallel to one another; sterile staminate flowers 3–6-sided, 1.5–2.5 mm long, 1.4–1.8 mm wide. Berries white, with purple stigmas; seeds 2–3,6,10–12,18–25 per locule, (1–5)8–11 mm long, 2–3 mm diam.
Type: Panama. Coclé: vicinity el Valle de Antón, at forested flat area near Finca Macarenita at La Mesa, 800 m, 8°36'N, 80°07'W, 6 July 1994, Croat & Zhu 76693 (holotype, MO-4619514-15; isotypes, B, CAS, COL, CR, F, K, NY, PMA, US).
Esmeraldas: Lita-San Lorenzo, 15.5 km W of Lita, 705 m, 0°55'N, 78°28'W, Croat 72372 (MO); San José de Cayapas, 80 m, 0°52'N, 78°57'W, HolmNielsen et al. 25665 (AAU, MO); Eloy Alfaro, Reserva Ecológica Cotacachi–Cayapas, Charco Vicente, Río San Miguel, afluente del Río Cayapas, 150 m, 0°43'N, 78°53'W, Palacios & Tirado 11276 (MO, QCNE). Carchi: Tulcán Cantón, Reserva Indígena Awá, sector Sabalera, parroquia Tobar Donoso, 650–100 m, 1°N, 78°24'W, Tipaz et al. 1298 (MO); 1462 (MO); 1230--1250 m, 1°02'N, 78°15'W, Boyle et al.2119 (MO), 2126 (MO); El Pailon, 45 km below Maldonado along a foot path to Tobar Donoso 800 m, Madison & Besse 7230 (SEL, K). Pichincha: Reserva ENDESA, Quito-Puerto Quito, Km 113, 0°05'N, 79°02'W, 750 m, Croat & Rodríguez 61454 (CM, K, M, MO, QCA); 61455 (K, MO, QCA); 710 m, 0°03'N, 79°07'W, Croat 73150 (MO), 73155 (AAU, B, COL, F, K, MO, NY, QCA, US); ENDESA reserve, 650--700 m, 0°05'N, 79°02'W, Rios 73 (QCA, MO). – Panama, Colombia.