MONSTERA AUREOPINNATA
PROTOLOGUE: Monstera aureopinnata Croat, published in Rodriguesia 56: 94 (2005).
Monstera aureopinnata Croat, sp. nov. Planta hemiepiphytica; internodia brevia, 2–2.5 cm diam.; petioli 29–44 cm longi; laminae pinnatipartitae, flavida (in sicco); pinnae 3–6 utroque, 1–7.1 cm latae; pedunculus 7.5–9 cm longus; spatha 12–22 cm longa; spadice aurantiacus, 9.5–15 cm longus. Type: Perú. Amazonas: Cajamarca, San Ignacio, Huarango, Nuevo Mundo-Pisaguas, secondary forest, 5°10’00"S, 68°32’00"W, 13 Nov. 1997, J. Campos & S. Nuñez 4639 (holotype, MO-04971512; isotypes, F, K, US, USM).
SYNONYMS:
OTHER NAMES: magkamak, katípas (Aguaruna, Peru)
DISTRIBUTION: Ecuador, NE. Peru, and Brazil: Ecuador, Peru, Brazil.
DISTRIBUTION NOTE: Peru: Amazonas (Peru), Cajamarca.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Appressed-climbing hemiepiphytic; internodes shorter than broad on adult plants, to 2–2.5 cm diam., longer than broad and to 3 cm long on preadult plants, epidermis drying yellow-brown, semiglossy, conspicuously longitudinally folded-ridged and transversely fissured. Leaves erect-spreading with petioles thicker than broad, 29–44 cm long, drying finely ribbed, 6–8 mm thick on free portion, sulcate adaxially, greenish gray, grayish brown to dark yellow-brown, sheathed 13–26 cm, 0.36–0.78% its length; sheath persistent intact; geniculum 2.5 cm long, drying darker than the petiole; blades pinnately lobed, usually unevenly with an unequal number of pinnae or pinnae of much different widths, 44–58 × 19–26(40) cm, (1.4)2–2.6 times longer than wide, 1.3–1.9 times longer than petioles, drying gray to gray-green to yellow-brown above, usually pale to medium yellow-brown below, less frequently dark yellow-brown below; pinnae 3–6 pairs, 1–7.1 cm wide, the middle of the lobe 1.2 times wider than the constricted portion, broadly decurrent at base both up and down the rachis, the broadest portion of the pinnae always the very base (as measured from the 2 decurrent sides) this being up to twice the width of the broadest part of any portion distally; the lowermost pinnae sometimes bifurcated to near the base; primary lateral veins 1–4 per pinnae, drying concolorous to slightly paler and weakly sunken above, narrowly raised and paler below; upper surface weakly and minutely granular, with major veins drying slightly paler, flat or weakly sunken; lower surface drying with minor veins, mostly closely parallel, with occasional oblique interconnectivity (especially toward margins), raphide cells clearly visible as raised lines between the minor veins with occasional short white linear cellular inclusions visible, weakly granular on high magnification.²
INFLORESCENCE:
Inflorescence arising in clusters of up to 3; peduncles 7.5– 9 cm long, drying 5–7 mm wide, dark to light yellow-brown, matte, finely striate; spathe 12–22 cm long, 1.4–2 times longer than spadix, drying yellow-brown to dark reddish brown; spadix yellow-orange (post-anthesis) 9.5–15 cm long; pistils ca. 3 mm long, drying with the ovary ca. 1 mm wide, the style 1.5 mm diam., dark brown, minutely papillategranular, matte, acute with the stigma borne at the apex and slightly wider than the dried style; stigma 0.6 × 0.3 mm, depressed medially with pale brown raised margin; stamens free, ca. 2 mm long on drying, the thecae 1.2 mm long, oblong, closely parallel, the filament flattened. Infructescence to 21 × 3 cm on drying; berries obovoid, red to orange, acutely pointed, to 8 x 4–5 mm.²
ECOLOGY:
Monstera aureopinnata is known from northeastern Peru, Brazil, and Ecuador at 130–1550 m, in Tropical wet forest and Premontane wet forest life zones; the type was gathered in secondary forest.²
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin aureus, "golden," and pinnatus, "feathered," referring to the yellowish brown-drying, pinnately lobed leaf blades.²
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Monstera aureopinnata Croat
2. Rodriguesia 56: 94 (2005) — protologue.
3. iNaturalist: Monstera aureopinnata
Additional photos from iNaturalist by Nate Hartley, Alex Bentley, LostInCR, Tom Field, Alan Rockefeller, Daniel Petersen och Peter Sullivan, Elizabeth Axley, ishpingo, Lynn Harper, Tilo Henning, Eric van den Berghe, Joey Santore, Kevin Chiang, lasuquita, Leoš Smutný a Antonín Horáček, Steven Daniel and Wagner Nogueira