STANDLEY — TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 85 



9. ARACEAE. Arum Family. 



Rb:ferences : Engler in DC. Monogr. Phan. 2. 1879 ; Engler, Pflanzenreich IV. 

 23. 1905-1913. 



Plants glabrous ; leaves alternate, distichous, or spirally arranged, entire or 

 lobate; flowers small, perfect or monoecious, crowded on a simple spadix, this 

 usually surrounded by a spathe, the whole inflorescence resembling a single 

 flower ; fruit baccate. 



A large family, with numerous species in Mexico. Most of the plants, how- 

 ever, are wholly herbaceous, and often acaulescent. The species taken up here 

 scarcely deserve to rank as shrubs, but they have long, coarse, epiphytic, 

 scandent stems, which give them the general appearance, at least, of shrubs. 

 The leaves in this family usually contain crystals of calcium oxalate, which 

 penetrate the tongue when a piece is chewed, causing pain and swelling. 

 Flowers all fertile, or a few at the base of the spike unisexual ; leaves often 



perforated or pinnatifid 1. MONSTERA. 



Flowers monoecious, the upper ones staminate, the lower pistillate ; leaves not 

 perforated. 



Ovaries distinct, 2 to 10-celled ; seeds with endosperm__2. PHILODENDRON. 



Ovaries coherent, 1 or 2-celled ; seeds without endosperm__3. SYNGONIUM. 



1. MONSTERA Adans. Fam. PI. 2: 470. 1763. 



Scandent branched shrubs, the branches rooting ; leaves distichous, entire or 

 pinnatifid, often with large perforations ; flowers perfect. 



Leaf blades regularly pinnatifid 1. M. deliciosa. 



Leaf blades never regularly pinnatifid, with large openings. 



Openings biseriate or triseriate along the costa 2. M. punctulata. 



Openings irregularly scattered or uniseriate. 



Spadix oblong, about half as long as the spathe 3. M. pertusa jacquinii. 



Spadix broadly ovoid, only slightly shorter than the spathe. 



4. M. karwinskyi. 

 1. Monstera deliciosa Liebm. Nat. For. Kjobenhavn Vid. Medd. 1849: 19. 1849. 



Monstera lennae C. Koch, Bot. Zeit. 1852: 277. 1852. 



Forests of Oaxaca (type locality) and Veracruz. Guatemala. 



Stems terete, 6 meters long and 6 cm. thick or larger, sending out long roots 

 from the nodes ; leaf blades 40 to 60 cm. broad, with numerous narrow lobes ; 

 spadix 17 to 20 cm. long ; berries pale yellow, spotted with violet. " Pinanona " 

 ( Oaxaca ) . 



The fruiting spadices are edible. 

 .2. Monstera punctulata Schott ; Engl, in DC. Monogr. Phan. 2: 259. 1879. 



Anadendron punctulatum Schott, Prodr. Syst. Aroid. 393. 1860. 



Reported from Mexico, the locality not stated. Type locality uncertain but 

 probably somewhere in Central America. 



Leaf blades ovate, 60 to 70 cm. long, with numerous perforations. 

 3. Monstera pertusa jacquinii (Schott) Engl, in Mart. Fl. Bras. 3': 113. 

 1878. 



Monstera jacquinii Schott, Oesterr. Bot. Wochenbl. 1854: 66. 1854. 



Forests of Veracruz. West Indies, Central America, and northern South 

 America. 



Stems high-climbing, 1 to 3 cm. thick; leaf blades ovate, 30 to 40 cm. long, 

 with few large perforations. 



