MONSTERA SUBPINNATA
PROTOLOGUE: Monstera subpinnata (Schott) Engl., published in Monographiae Phanerogamarum 2: 267 (1879). The protologue is reproduced below.
SYNONYMS:
HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS: Tornelia subpinnata Schott
HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS: Monstera latiloba K.Krause; Monstera uleana Engl.
DISTRIBUTION: SE. Colombia to Bolivia: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru.
DISTRIBUTION NOTE: iNaturalist: Madre de Dios.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Scandent epiphyte to 12 m tall. Juvenile: unknown. Adult stem: 1.5–2.5 cm thick, internodes 3–8 cm long, covered by a thick, light brown cuticle which flakes off in dried material. Petiole: 25–38 cm long, about equaling the lamina, vaginate to within 5 cm of the blade base, the sheath wings deciduous. Lamina: 25–40 cm long, 18–30 cm wide, deeply pinnatifid, the pinnae 3–12 in number per side, usually contracted into a narrowly cuneate portion at the base, rarely the pinnae 4–7 cm wide and then narrowed to 2–4 cm wide at the base, acuminate at the tip, the terminal portion of the lamina about equaling in size and shape the lateral pinnae; primary lateral veins 8–14 in number, the secondary lateral veins parallel to the primary, arising at an angle of 70–90° with the costa.⁴
INFLORESCENCE:
Peduncle: terete, 5–10 mm thick, 8–12 cm long, equaling or somewhat shorter than the flowering spadix. Spathe: white, cream, or yellowish-pink, 12–18 cm tall. Flowering spadix: pale yellow to yellow, 8–12 cm long, 1.5–2.0 cm thick, cylindric or slightly tapering, the pistils prolonged into a pronounced conical or acute style 2–4 mm long. Fruiting spadix: green, becoming yellow or orange at maturity, 12–17 cm long, 2.0–3.5 cm thick; seeds about 7 mm long, 5.5 mm wide, 3 mm thick.⁴
ETYMOLOGY:
The epithet refers to the pinnatifid condition of the lamina.²
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Monstera subpinnata (Schott) Engl.
2. Monographiae Phanerogamarum 2: 267 (1879) — protologue.
3. iNaturalist: Monstera subpinnata
Additional photos by David Scherberich
Additional photos from iNaturalist by Hubert Szczygieł, Eric Heisey, Fábio Luis dos Santos, Ruben D. Layme, Kabir Montesinos, Karla Fiallos Yanez, earthknight, Jeremy Cowan and Edson Guilherme