Monstera ngabensis Croat

Croat, Thomas B., Cedeño-Fonseca, Marco & Ortiz, Orlando O., 2024, Revision of Monstera (Araceae: Monsteroideae) of Central America, Phytotaxa 656 (1), pp. 1-197 : 125-126

37. Monstera ngabensis Croat , sp. nov. ( Figs. 60 , 61 )

The species is characterized by its nomadic vine, appressed-climbing habit, greenish-white internodes with light yellow-brown peeling epidermis, leaves with deciduous sheaths, small perforations on one side of the leaf, as well as by the moderately long-pedunculate inflorescence with a stubby white spadix.

Type: — PANAMA. Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé: Parcela 8. Nole Duima/Kankintú, cerca de Entrada de Hacha. La Nevera , Filo de la cordillera, bosque montano primario, 1750 m, 25 Aug, 2012, Melisa Ayala, Alicia Ibáñez, Ángela Celis, Noris Flores, Jorge Castillo 1504 (holotype PMA!-106396) .

Nomadic vine, appressed-climbing habit.SEEDLINGS: unknown.JUVENILE PLANTS: unknown.ADULT PLANTS: root climbers; stems greenish brown; internodes 2–3 cm long, 1 cm diam., 2–3 times longer than wide, dark brown drying, finely striated, yellow-brown brittle epidermis; petioles 25 cm long, sheathed 1 cm before base of the geniculum; petiole sheath deciduous, with fibrous persistent residues, pale brown; blades ovate, 25.0 × 15.5 cm, 1.6 times longer than wide, moderately thin, faintly bicolorous, dark green and matte adaxially, faintly paler abaxially, drying dark brown and matte adaxially, slightly paler and semi-glossy abaxially; midrib drying slightly paler adaxially and reddish brown, narrowly rounded and paler abaxially; primary lateral veins 7 per side, weakly convex and colorless adaxially, closely rounded and slightly paler abaxially; secondary veins mostly parallel with some crossed oblique veins; upper surface granular, lacking short pale lines; lower surface densely pale mottled, sparsely coarse-granular; fenestrations present, arranged on one side only, oblong; margins entire. INFLORESCENCES erect; peduncle 20 cm long, 8 mm diam., drying with a scaly yellow-brown squamous epidermis, the underlying tissue blackened; spathe unknown; spadix greenish-white or white, 11.2 cm long, 2.5 cm diam., 4.5 cm times longer than wide; basal sterile flowers 3–4 mm long; fertile flowers 5–6 mm long; stamens with laminar filaments; ovary ribbed, 3–5 × 1–2 mm; style hexagonal, 1–2 × 1–2 mm; stigmatophore thickly columnar; stigma linear with a deep medial cleft, thick, conspicuous margins, pale brown; berries white; seeds unknown.

Distribution and ecology: — Monstera ngabensis is endemic to Panama, know only from the type locality in Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé, at 1750 m, in a Montane rain forest life zone.

Phenology: —Flowering in August.

Etymology: —The species named for the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé where it was first collected.

Discussion: —The species is a member of sect. Monstera characterized by its nomadic vine, appressed-climbing habit, greenish-white internodes with light yellow-brown peeling epidermis, moderately short-petiolate leaves with deciduous sheaths, ovate, dark brown-drying blades which are more or less acute at the apex and inequilaterally rounded at base with small perforations on one side, as well as by the moderately long-peduculate inflorescence with a stubby white spadix only 4.4 times longer than broad.

The species shares characters with both M. mittermeieri and M. oreophila but differ from both in having up to 7 pairs of primary lateral veins whereas the other two species have more than 14 veins per side.

Figures

FIGURE 60. Monstera ngabensis. Adult plant growing in Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama. A. Ibañez 1504 (PMA). Photo by A. Ibáñez

FIGURE 61. Monstera ngabensis. Adult plant growing in Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama. A. Ibañez 1504 (PMA). Photo by A. Ibáñez