MONSTERA PRAETERMISSA
PROTOLOGUE: Monstera praetermissa E.G.Gonç. & Temponi, published in Brittonia 56: 72 (2004).
Monstera praetermissa E.G.Gonç. & Temponi, sp. nov. Ad sectionem Monsteram pertinens. Herba scandens plerumque hemiepiphytica. Caulis teres vel leviter compressus, internodiis 5–49 × 5–11 mm. Petiolus 6.2–38 × 0.2–1 cm, ad pulvinum usque vaginatus, vagina decidua. Lamina ovata vel elliptica, 12–34 × 6–22 cm, papyracea, leviter inaequilatera, fenestrata, apice cuspidato vel acuminato, basi cuneata vel obtusa, nervis lateralibus primariis 3–7; fenestrae 2.5–5 × 1–1.6 cm. Pedunculus 6.9–15 × 0.4–0.7 cm. Spatha aurantiaca 3–9 × 1.5–3 cm. Spadix florifer eburneus vel aureus, 4–6.5 × 1.2–1.5 cm, omnino fertilis. Spadix fructifer erectus, aurantiacus, 3.6–7.2 × 1.1–1.4 cm. Baccae prismaticae vel rotundatae, 7–9.5 × 2–8 mm. Semina ovoidea, 5.5–7 × 4.5–5.5 mm. Type: BRAZIL. Bahia: Una, 8.8 km E of BR101 on rd. to São José and Una, 28 Oct 1993, W. W. Thomas et al. 10179 (holotype: CEPEC; isotypes: K, NY (n.v.), RB).
DISTRIBUTION: Brazil: Brazil, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central.
DISTRIBUTION NOTE: Brazil: Bahia, Ceará, Goiás, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Pernambuco, Santa Catarina, São Paulo.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Herb; scandent or hemiepiphytic. Stem creeping, terete or slightly flattened against substrate, the internodes 5–49 × 5–11 mm bearing roots near nodes; roots dimorphic, the anchor roots 0.5–2.5 mm diam., the feeding roots 3–4 mm diam. Leaves numerous; petioles 6.2–38 × 0.2–1 cm, adaxially sulcate, sheathed up to pulvinus, the sheath deciduous; lamina ovate to elliptic, slightly oblique, drying blackish adaxially and ochre to blackish abaxially, chartaceous, 12–34 × 6–22 cm; adult leaf with 0–5 perforations per side, the perforations 2.5–15 × 1–1.6 cm, only rarely reaching margins and lacerating leaves; venation essentially reticulate, the primary lateral veins 3–7 per side; base cuneate to obtuse; apex shortly cuspidate to acuminate; leaf tip to 2 cm long.²
INFLORESCENCE:
Inflorescences 1–4 per floral sympodium, each inflorescence subtended by a prophyll 7–13 × 1–3 cm; peduncles 6.9–15 × 0.4–0.7 cm, erect at anthesis; spathe orange on both surfaces, 3–9 × 1.5–3 cm, acuminate, obliquely inserted on peduncle, soon deciduous. Spadix with oblique insertion, 4–6.5 cm long, 1.2–1.5 cm diam., cream colored to orange yellow, with 6–8 flowers in main spiral and 6–7 flowers in transverse spiral. Flowers (all fertile): gynoecium prismatic, 2–4 × 4–6 mm, white to cream colored, the stigma slit-like, 1.5–2 × 0.8–1 mm wide, orange; stamens 4 per flower, 2–4 × 0.5–1 mm, the filament laterally flattened, shorter than anthers, the anthers sagittate 1.5 × 1 mm. Infructescence erect, 3.6–7.2 × 1.1–1.4 cm. Berries prismatic to rounded, 7–9.5 × 2–8 mm, with an apical cusp of trichosclereids, orange. Seeds green, ovoid, 5.5–7 × 4.5–5.5 mm, 1 to 3 per berry.²
ECOLOGY:
Monstera praetermissa is currently known from southern Brazil (states of Paraná and Santa Catarina) to northeastern Brazil (Ceará state). It occurs at elevations between 50 and 900 m. It is also expected to occur in Amazonia. It is a forest dweller, rarely occurring at the edge of the forest (as does Monstera adansonii Schott, a common species in Brazil) and is not particularly abundant in any visited locality. It flowers from October to December and bears fruit from January to August.²
ETYMOLOGY:
The epithet means "overlooked," because this species had been neglected by aroid specialists for a long time.²
NOTES:
1. Monstera praetermissa seems to be most similar to Monstera obliqua Miq. and Monstera xanthospatha Madison. It differs from Monstera obliqua in having one to four inflorescences in each floral sympodium (vs. more than 6 in Monstera obliqua) and trichosclereids at the gynoecium apex (vs. none in Monstera obliqua). Monstera obliqua has never been observed in eastern Brazil and its distribution overlaps with the Amazonian Forest. Monstera praetermissa seems to be more similar to Monstera xanthospatha from Colombia. However, Monstera praetermissa differs in having an upright (vs. nodding) infructescence, a spadix to 6 cm (vs. ca. 9 cm) long, and fertile (vs. sterile) inner basal flowers. A less notable difference is that the inner surface of the spathe is reported to be white in Monstera xanthospatha, but orange in Monstera praetermissa. Moreover, Monstera xanthospatha is only known from the valley of the Cauca River, in western Colombia and adjacent Ecuador, usually between 1200 and 2000 m, whereas Monstera praetermissa is so far known from Brazil and is rarely found more than 900 m above sea level (usually between 50 and 600 m).²
STORY:
STORY TITLE: The overlooked one
The epithet praetermissa means overlooked. The plant had been collected across the Atlantic forest of Brazil from Paraná to Ceará and neglected by aroid specialists for a long time before it was described in 2004, generally passing for Monstera obliqua, a species that has never been recorded in eastern Brazil.² It differs from Monstera obliqua in producing one to four inflorescences in each floral sympodium rather than more than six, and in carrying trichosclereids at the apex of the gynoecium.²
Its nearer relative is Monstera xanthospatha of the Colombian Andes, from which it differs in an upright rather than nodding infructescence, a shorter spadix, fertile rather than sterile inner basal flowers, and a spathe orange rather than white within.² The two share with Monstera obliqua the orange fruiting spadix, otherwise unknown in the genus.³ It is a forest plant, rarely at the forest edge, never abundant, flowering from October to December and fruiting from January to August, mostly between 50 and 600 m.²
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Monstera praetermissa E.G.Gonç. & Temponi
2. Brittonia 56: 72 (2004) — protologue.
Additional photos from iNaturalist by henrycc, João Vitor Andriola, LostInCR, Carlos Hartur Ribeiro Noia, Jonacir Souza, Bruno da Silva Teixeira, Fabrício Mil Homens Riella, Geovane Siqueira, tuanihabitz, Eduardo Dalabeneta and Liu Idárraga Orozco
Additional photo from Wikimedia Commons by Fabrício Mil Homens Riella
