MONSTERA XANTHOSPATHA
PROTOLOGUE: Monstera xanthospatha Madison, published in Contributions from the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University 207: 65 (1977).
Monstera xanthospatha Madison, sp. nov. Planta epiphytica scandens. Caulis teres 5–10 mm crassus, internodiis 3–6 cm longis. Foliorum petiolus 12–18 cm longus, ad geniculum usque vaginatus, vagina decidua; lamina oblique lanceolata, 16–25 cm longa, 5–8 cm lata, inequilatera, basi cuneato-angustata, apice acuminata, integra vel pauciforaminata foraminibus inter nervos primarios solitariis anguste ellipticis ad 5 cm longis. Pedunculus 15–26 cm longus, petiolo paulo longior. Spatha extus aurea, intus alba, circ. 9 cm longa. Spadix floriter flavus, 6–8 cm longus, 2 cm crassus, inferne sterilis. Spadix fructifer nutans, aurantiacus vel ruber. Baccae subprismaticae. Type: Colombia: Dept. El Valle, Cordillera Occidental, La Cumbre, 1600–1800 m. Climbing herb. 14–19 May 1922, Killip 5668 (holotype GH; isotypes NY, US no. 1142004, PH no. 612990).
DISTRIBUTION: Colombia: Colombia.
DISTRIBUTION NOTE: Colombia: Antioquia, Caldas, Valle del Cauca iNaturalist: Valle del Cauca.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
Translated from protologue: Climbing epiphytic plant. Stem terete, 5–10 mm thick, the internodes 3–6 cm long. Petiole 12–18 cm long, sheathed up to the geniculum, the sheath deciduous; lamina obliquely lanceolate, 16–25 cm long, 5–8 cm wide, inequilateral, cuneately narrowed at the base, acuminate at the apex, entire or with a few perforations, the perforations solitary between the primary veins, narrowly elliptic, up to 5 cm long.²
INFLORESCENCE:
Translated from protologue: Peduncle 15–26 cm long, a little longer than the petiole. Spathe golden yellow outside, white inside, about 9 cm long. Flowering spadix yellow, 6–8 cm long, 2 cm thick, sterile below. Fruiting spadix nodding, orange or red. Berries subprismatic.²
ECOLOGY:
Colombia, Cordillera Occidental and Cordillera Central, at elevations of 1400 to 2500 meters.²
ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek xanthos, "yellow," and Latin spatha, "spathe," referring to the deep yellow abaxial surface of the spathe, which distinguishes the species from all others in its section.²
NOTES:
1. Monstera xanthospatha shows close affinities to Monstera obliqua from which it differs by its larger size in every respect and by the subprismatic berries which contain trichosclereids in the stylar portion. The berries of Monstera obliqua are globose and lack trichosclereids in the stylar portion. In addition, the two species are ecologically quite distinct. Monstera obliqua occurs mostly near sea level, while Monstera xanthospatha ranges from elevations of 1400 to 2500 meters. Monstera xanthospatha is distinguished from the remaining species of the section in various ways, and always by the deep yellow abaxial surface of the spathe.²
2. The three Central American species of Monstera with a similar elevational range do not show a close alliance to Monstera xanthospatha, which apparently has not arisen from a high-altitude species complex, but has evolved from some lowland ancestor. In all but one of the fruiting specimens examined the spadix is nodding from the erect peduncle, a character not known in other Monstera species.²
STORY:
STORY TITLE: The fruit that nods
Monstera xanthospatha is the one species in the genus whose fruiting spadix nods from an upright peduncle; in all but one of the fruiting specimens examined when it was described, the infructescence hung over.² Its spathe is deep yellow on the outer surface, which alone separates it from every other species of its section, and its berries are subprismatic and armed with trichosclereids in the stylar portion.²
Its closest relative is Monstera obliqua, a plant of the lowlands, which it exceeds in every dimension; Monstera xanthospatha lives at 1400 to 2500 m in the Cordillera Occidental and Cordillera Central of Colombia. The three Central American species with a similar elevational range show no close alliance to it, and it appears to have evolved from a lowland ancestor rather than from a high-altitude group.² It shares its orange fruit with Monstera obliqua and with Monstera praetermissa of eastern Brazil, a species long confused with Monstera obliqua, which differs from Monstera xanthospatha in holding its infructescence upright.⁴
REFERENCES:
1. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — Monstera xanthospatha Madison
2. Contributions from the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University 207: 65 (1977) — protologue.
3. iNaturalist: Monstera xanthospatha
Additional photos from iNaturalist by Alexis Dekeyne, Benjamin Gorfer, Maria Camila Freyre Guaspud, Juan A. Medina-Gallo, Mateo Hernandez Schmidt, LostInCR, Andrés Uribe, Nicolás Baresch Uribe, Jeison Rosero and Sebas Arango