Generales

By Natalia Piedrahita Tamayo, Journalist at UdeA Communications Office

Around 1872, Gustav Wallis, a German plant collector, discovered Spathiphyllum wallisii in the Andes mountains of Colombia. This tropical herb, known as a white anthurium, is native to the region and was thought to have vanished from the wild. Recently, two Colombian botanists, one of whom works at the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences at UdeA, rediscovered it.

Photo: Alejandra Uribe Fernández / UdeA Communications Office.

While exploring the Serranía de San Jacinto rainforest in the Montes de María, spanning Córdoba and Sucre, Huila botanist William Vargas spotted an anthurium plant that immediately caught his attention. Its resemblance to a species thought to be extinct reminded him of frequent discussions with Felipe Cardona Naranjo, an anthurium expert and director of the Herbarium at the Universidad de Antioquia. Vargas sent a photo of the plant to Cardona, who confirmed its identity after thorough verification: it was Spathiphyllum wallisii!

It was the same species Felipe Cardona had declared extinct in 2004. That year, with support from a Humboldt Institute grant, he explored the humid forests of the Magdalena Medio, a tropical region renowned for its rich diversity of anthuriums. His deep fascination with these plants led him to dedicate his master’s thesis to white anthuriums. Despite extensive research, he found no records of Spathiphyllum wallisii in the country’s herbariums or conservation centers and never encountered it during his numerous expeditions. Its rediscovery now confirms the remarkable survival of this long-lost species.

“The white anthurium, Spathiphyllum wallisii, is one of the most well-known species globally, frequently found in botanical gardens and nurseries. However, it seemed to have vanished from its natural habitat. Our knowledge of the plant comes primarily from the accounts of 19th-century botanical expeditions. The original report of this species mentions that it was “collected by Gustav Wallis in the mountains of Colombia.” This vague description, considering the country’s vast mountainous regions, led us to attempt to identify the exact locations Wallis explored,” explained Felipe Cardona Naranjo, researcher, botanist, and director of the Herbarium at the Universidad de Antioquia since 2006.

How, if Spathiphyllum wallisii was reported extinct in its natural habitat in Colombia, did it become known in other countries? “In several European countries, particularly the Netherlands, many tropical plants flourish because botanists like Gustav Wallis collected numerous species from these regions to study and cultivate them,” explained botanical researcher William Vargas. “Colombia was one of the major centers for European botanists collecting tropical plants from the 18th century onward. Their primary routes focused on India and the Americas. Among the plants they collected, many were from the Araceae family, including anthuriums.”

Wallis, bridging continents through botany

Photo: Alejandra Uribe Fernández / UdeA Communications Office.

Gustav Wallis (1830–1878), a gardener and plant collector from Lunenburg, Germany, gained recognition for introducing over 1,000 native plants from the Americas and Asia to Europe. Born deaf, he didn’t speak until he was six, following the death of his father. His passion for nature and exploration likely stemmed from his childhood in the mountains and forests of Westphalia. Wallis studied botany, gardening, and languages, although he spoke little and traveled extensively across Europe to collect plants. In 1856, he arrived in Brazil, and by 1860, he had embarked on a botanical journey through the Amazon, supported by naturalist Jean Jules Linden. In 1872, Wallis began his exploration of Colombia, captivated by the region’s rich diversity of Melastomataceae and orchids.

Gustav Wallis was a prolific plant collector who introduced tropical specimens to European botany, including Anthurium veitchii Mast. Dracula wallisii (Rchb.f.) Luer, and Epidendrum wallisii Rchb. F., all collected in Antioquia. After 1872, while journeying through the jungles and mountains of Panama and Ecuador, he became seriously ill and passed away in 1878 in Cuenca, Ecuador. Today, approximately 1,000 species, including Spathiphyllum wallisii, honor his legacy by bearing his name.

“These expeditionaries had established routes, but the books and records from that era are hard to find. I have found references to their visits to places like Amalfi and the páramo de Frontino. Directors of botanical gardens or collectors often funded these expeditions to America, paying travelers to send plants packed in glass boxes that acted as greenhouses for later study or display in cabinets of curiosities. I suspect that, during that time, they collected so many plants that they may have driven some species to extinction,” said Cardona Naranjo.

A treasure of the Spathiphyllum genus

White anthuriums are native to the humid forests of Central and South America, where they thrive in areas near water. Researchers have documented 25 out of 50 known species in Colombia, all featuring elliptical spathes.

Anthurium flowers attract euglossines, or orchid bees, which are pearly green hymenopterans crucial for pollination. These bees collect nectar, pollen, and resin from plants. When the flowers no longer need to be receptive, they turn green, suggesting that this color change helps attract pollinators when necessary and remain inconspicuous at other times. Although commonly grown as houseplants, anthurium species also thrive in gardens across temperate climates, both rural and urban.

The rediscovery of the native species Spathiphyllum wallisii emphasizes the essential role plants serve in conservation, offering a powerful incentive to protect forests and establish reserves. The white anthurium’s ecological value lies in its ability to balance soil and water. “We went from assuming it was extinct to committing to preserve it, as we now classify it as an endangered species,” said Cardona Naranjo. He concluded that this rediscovery offers hope for this species and botanical research that once seemed out of reach.