REVISION OF THE ARACEAE OF RIO CENEPA AND ADJACENT AREAS. Anne Swart1, Thomas Croat2. Biology Department, Washington University, St. Louis, MO1; Missouri Botanical Gardens, St. Louis, MO2.

The purpose of this study was to document and describe all members of the Araceae family found in the area surrounding the Rio Cenepa in Amazonas, Peru. This area is in northwestern Peru, in the Bagua and Condorcanqui provinces of Amazonas at ca. 4°00' S to 5° 30' S and 77°30' W to 78°30'W at ca. 500&emdash;1500 m elevation and includes premontane rain forests, tropical wet forests, and premontane moist forests transitioning to tropical moist forests (Holdridge life zones). Eighteen genera have been found here. Anthurium is the largest genus with ca. 70 species, followed by Philodendron with 30 species. Also found in the region is the genus Alocasia (1 species); Caladium (1 species); Chlorospatha (1 species); Colocasia (1 species); Dieffenbachia (3 species); Dracontium (1 species); Filarum (1 species); Heteropsis (3 species and one variation); Homalomena (2 species); Monstera (8 species, 3 varieties, and 3 forms); Rhodospatha (7 species); Spathiphyllum (9 species); Stenospermation (4 species); Syngonium (2 species); Urospatha (1 species) and Xanthosoma (4 species). A total of ca.146 species, 4 varieties, and 3 forms, with about 32 percent being new and 28 percent endemic occur in the Rio Cenepa area