MONSTERA SP. ‘BURLE MARX'S FLAME’
ORIGIN:
Roberto Burle Marx, released 1981
CULTIVAR DESCRIPTION:
Growth Habit: Active climber with moderately spaced internodes. Leaf Blade: Starts with entire leaves but quickly splits into deeply pinnatifid leaves with the leaflets set wide apart as it matures. In the most mature plants sporadic perforations can be observed at the base of some leaflets along the midrib.
NOTES:
Registered on the IAS aroid cultivar registry. Accepted: Yes; Cultivar Type: Select Form of a Species; Released Year: 1981; Originator: Roberto Burle Marx; Namer: Various. Name origin: This plant was found in Burle Marx's collection (unknown origin) in Rio de Janeiro and introduced to cultivation from there. The juvenile leaves in particular resembles a flame. The name is a combination of these two aspects of the story behind this cultivar.
STORY:
STORY TITLE: From the garden of Roberto Burle Marx
The plant was found in Roberto Burle Marx's collection in Rio de Janeiro and introduced to cultivation from there; where it was first collected is not known. It bears a superficial resemblance to Monstera deliciosa, above all to the form once called var. sierrana, treated provisionally as a distinct entity rather than a synonym², but its deeply pinnatifid leaves with narrow, widely spaced leaflets set it apart from every deliciosa form in cultivation.¹ The name joins the garden it came from with the look of its juvenile leaves, which resemble a flame; it is recorded as released in 1981, with the name credited to various growers.¹
REFERENCES:
2. Cedeño-Fonseca, Díaz Jiménez, Zuluaga & Blanco 2020. A comparison of Monstera deliciosa and M. tacanaensis, with comments on Monstera section Tornelia (Araceae). Aroideana 43(1&2): 32–73.
Roberto Burle Marx