MONSTERA LECHLERIANA
PROTOLOGUE: Monstera lechleriana Schott, published in Prodromus Systematis Aroidearum 366 (1860). The protologue is reproduced below.
SYNONYMS:
HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS: Monstera henry-pittieri G.S.Bunting; Monstera maxima Engl. & K.Krause
OTHER NAMES: Boa Huasca (Peru); Mamurillo, Pantano, Picatón (Venezuela)
DISTRIBUTION: Panama to Venezuela and Bolivia: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Venezuela.
DISTRIBUTION NOTE: iNaturalist: Madre de Dios, Pastaza.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Epiphyte on the lower trunks of large trees, to 7 m tall. Juvenile: terrestrial creeper, internodes 1–6 cm long, leaves exserted and erect, petiole vaginate for ½ to ⅚ its length, the wings persistent; lamina ovate to lanceolate, cuneate at the base, the tip acute to acuminate, coriaceous, glossy adaxially, pale abaxially, slightly unequal. Adult stem: subterete, green, smooth, 4.5–6.0 cm thick, internodes 4–6 cm long; leaf scars 3.4 cm across at widest point, the ends of each scar overlapping for 1–2 cm, the lower part terminating behind the axillary bud of the preceding leaf; axillary bud about 1 cm wide, half as tall, flat, in a depression on the stem. Petiole: smooth, 55–120 cm long, about equal in length or somewhat shorter than the lamina, widely vaginate nearly to the lamina base, on the largest leaves vaginate to within 15 cm of the lamina base, the sheath wings persistent, their apices blunt or auriculate; the geniculum curved, (5–)7–10 cm long. Lamina: coriaceous, glossy adaxially, ovate, about twice as long as wide, 75–120 cm long, 35–70 cm wide, the base somewhat oblique, broadly truncate to slightly cordate, the tip acute; margin entire, perforations lacking or in a single series on each side of the midrib, the perforation elliptic to narrowly elliptic, 1–8 cm long; primary lateral veins parallel, (16–)20–40 in number, 1–3 cm distant, the secondary lateral veins parallel to the primary.⁴
INFLORESCENCE:
Peduncle: smooth, green toward the apex, white at the base, flattened, 1.5–2.5 cm thick, 2–4 cm wide, (16–)20–40 cm long. Spathe: white or pale yellow, thickly coriaceous, 18–44 cm tall, 15–34 cm around, constricted above the spadix, i.e., ⅔ to ¾ of the way up, when fully open only exposing the spadix through a narrow slit 1–6 cm across; tip acute to acuminate. Flowering spadix: cream to pale yellow, stigmatic drop orange, (12–)15–20 cm long, 2.5–4.5 cm thick, cylindric or slightly tapering, the flowers near the base sterile, the fertile pistils prismatic, truncate at the apex in Mexican specimens, mostly rounded to acute at the apex in material from Central and South America; pistils 8–11 mm long, 4 mm across. Fruiting spadix: cream to medium yellow, (18–)20–28 cm long, 4.5–5.5 cm thick, the berries 16–20 mm long, 7–9 mm across, mostly one-seeded; seeds brown, oblong, 10–13 mm long, 4–6 mm wide, 3.4 mm thick.⁴
ECOLOGY:
Mexico, Costa Rica to Peru, and Venezuela, mostly at elevations of 800–2100 meters.⁴
ETYMOLOGY:
After Wilibald Lechler (1814–1856), collector of the type specimen.⁴
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Monstera lechleriana Schott
2. Prodromus Systematis Aroidearum 366 (1860) — protologue.
3. iNaturalist: Monstera lechleriana
Additional photos by David Scherberich
Additional photos from iNaturalist by J.R. Kuethe, ishpingo, Daniel Valencia Meneses, Alex Bentley, Jeison Rosero, técnico parabotânico Acre, Mayk Oliveira, Jurgen Beckers, Alex Castelein, Jade Asher Warner, Jorge Orleanes Souza Pequeno, LostInCR, Líggjas Á Váli Smith, Oiseau, Paola Ordóñez M., thaliacastro, David Torres, Gustavo Brito Bortolan, Isaac Oliveira, Marcos Silveira, Marcus Athaydes, Nate Hartley, Pasha Parkhaev, Sarah Wang and Wagner Nogueira
Additional photos from Wikimedia Commons by Plant Yeah and User45732
