MONSTERA VASQUEZII

PROTOLOGUE: Monstera vasquezii Croat, published in Rodriguesia 56: 97 (2005).

Monstera vasquezii Croat, sp. nov. Planta hemiepiphytica; internodia ad 2.5 cm longa, 1.8 cm diam. in sicco; petioli 29 cm longi, 8–9 mm x 5–6 m lata; laminae anguste ovatae, 56 cm longae, 26 cm latae, rotundata ad basim; nervis primariis lateralibus 14 utroque; pedunculus 13 cm longus; spadice 17 cm longus, 3.1 cm latus (in sicco). Type: Perú. Amazonas: Condorcanqui, El Cenepa, Kusu-kubaim, Río Conaina, 4°25’S, 78°16’W, 17 Aug. 1994, R. Vasquez, R. Apanu, and M. Ugkuch 18870 (holotype, MO04664172).

DISTRIBUTION: N. Peru: Peru.

DISTRIBUTION NOTE: Peru: Amazonas (Peru).

SPECIES DESCRIPTION:

Hemiepiphytic climber; internodes to 2.5 cm long, drying 1.8 cm diam., epidermis semiglossy, drying medium gray-brown, frequently peeling free, the underlying stem drying blackened, matte, weakly & closely ribbed. Petioles 29 cm long, thicker than broad, 8–9 mm thick, to 1 cm wide at the base, 5–6 mm wide toward the apex, drying matte, gray-brown, narrowly sulcate adaxially with the margins raised, sheathed throughout most of its length, the margin promptly deciduous with a few brown fibers persisting; blades entire, narrowly ovate, 56 × 26 cm, 2.1 cm longer than wide, acuminate at apex, rounded at base, yellowish gray-green above and below; midrib broadly raised and weakly paler above, narrowly rounded and paler below, drying yellow-brown, matte; primary lateral veins 14 per side, arising at an acute angle, then spreading at 70–85° angle, drying flattened and darker than surface, finely and minutely ridged; minor veins reticulate throughout the region between the midrib and the margin but moderately obscure on lower surface.²

INFLORESCENCE:

Inflorescence solitary; peduncle 13 cm long, drying blackened, 6 mm diam.; spadix 17 cm long, drying 3.1 cm wide; pistil 1.2 × 2.2–2.5 mm; stigma 3.2–3.6 × 3.8–3.0 mm, dark brown, matte, irregularly oblong to rounded or hexagonal; stigma oblong, 3–3.4 mm long, 1 mm wide, deeply sunken medially with a brown raised rim.²

ETYMOLOGY:

Named after Rodolfo Vásquez of the Missouri Botanical Garden, preeminent Peruvian botanist and the collector of the type specimen.²

REFERENCES:

1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Monstera vasquezii Croat

2. Rodriguesia 56: 97 (2005) — protologue.