MONOLOPIA 



MONSTERA 



2063 



terminal, solitary, 1-fld.; heads large, many-fld.; some 

 of the disk-rays sterile; lobes of disk-corollas somewhat 

 bearded and ray-fls. with appendage at base of ligule; 

 pappus none. Species perhaps a half-dozen ; of minor 

 importance horticulturally. 



major, DC. (Helenium Douglasii, Hort.). Small and 

 woolly in the wild, green and 2-3 ft. high in cult.: Ivs. 

 entire or somewhat toothed, sessile, linear to broadly 

 lanceolate: fls. 2 in. across, yellow; rays dilated, coarsely 

 3-4-toothed, appendaged at the base. B.M. 

 3839. Said to bloom most of the summer. Lvs. 

 3-5 in. long, reflexed: rays 8-9, fertile, short, 

 broad and coarsely toothed, bright golden yellow. 



L. H. B. 



MONOMERIA (one part, referring to the 

 single anther). Orchiddceae. Two epiphytic 

 orchids from India, allied to Bulbophyllum, little 

 cult. Pseudobulbs 1-lvd., on a stout rhizome, 

 the If. long, thick and flat: scape arising from 

 the rhizome and bearing a loose raceme; petals 

 minute, fimbriate; dorsal sepal broad and erect, 

 the lateral much longer; lip small, jointed on 

 the column-base, subcordate; column very 

 short, 3-toothed ; anther 1-celled ; pollinia 4. M . 

 barbdta, Lindl., has scape about 1 ft. long, and 

 fls. about 1J^ in. long, greenish marked red- 

 brown. Sikkim. 



MON6PANAX: Oreopanax. 



MONOTAGMA (single row or series, from 

 the Greek). Marantacese. Maranta-like plants, 

 about 10 species, in S. Amer., one of which is 

 in cult. It belongs to the 1-loculed section of 

 the family, with a single staminodium; differs from 

 Ischnosiphon, among other things, in its solitary rather 

 than geminate fls. M. smaragdinum, Schum. (Mar- 

 dnta smardgdina, Lind. Calathea smardgdina, Lind. 

 Ischnosiphon smaragdinum, Eichl.). Erect perennial 

 showy herb, 1-1 y% ft.: Ivs. long-petioled, lanceolate or 

 oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, the base more or less 

 rounded, emerald-green above with a dark green cen- 

 tral stripe, beneath pale green and minutely puberu- 

 lent: fls. 4-8, solitary, disposed in spikes; sepals lanceo- 

 late; corolla-tube much exceeding calyx, the lobes 

 lanceolate and obtuse; staminode obovate. Ecuador. 



L. H. B. 



MONSONIA (named for Lady Ann Monson, cor- 

 respondent of Linnaeus). Geranidcese. Erect or decum- 

 bent herbs or shrubs, sometimes grown under glass as 

 are pelargoniums. 



Annual or perennial, mostly with slender sts.: Ivs. 

 alternate or opposite, crenate-dentate or dissected, 

 stipulate: peduncles axillary or rarely nearly basal, 

 bracteate, 2- to many-fld., or rarely 1-fld, by abortion; 

 fls. white, rose-colored, red, purplish, regular; sepals 

 and petals and glands 5; stamens 15, all fertile, con- 

 nate at base; ovary 5-lobed and 5-celled, beaked: valves 

 of fr. 1-seeded, revplutely dehiscing. Species 29 as 

 accepted by Knuth in Engler's Das Pflanzenreich, hft. 

 53 (1912), African, 2 or 3 extending into Asia. Proba- 

 bly the species most likely to be met with in cult, are 

 M. lobdta, Mont., and M. specidsa, Linn, f., suffruticose 

 plants 1 ft. or so high, from S. Afr. The former has Ivs. 

 cordate and 5-7-lobed, and fls. greenish and varie- 

 gated outside and pale bluish inside with darker center. 

 B.M. 385. The latter has Ivs. palmately 5-parted and 

 lobes 2-pinnatifid, and fls. rose-colored with darker eye. 

 B.M. 73. L H B * 



MONSTERA (name unexplained by the author; 

 probably from the Latin for strange or monstrous). 

 Ardcese. Root-climbing evergreen aroids from tropical 

 America, of which one, Monstera deliciosa, is often 

 grown under glass for its odd foliage and in the tropics 

 for its edible fruit. 



Woody, the branches rooting, the roots often cord- 

 like, the Ivs. more or less distichous: Ivs. often very 

 large (small on juvenile shoots and more regular), from 

 lanceolate to oblong and broader, entire, perforated or 

 pinnatifid, the petiole prominent and sheathing : pedun- 

 cles terminal, solitary or fascicled, bearing ovate or 

 oblong boat-shaped spathe that opens widely after 

 flowering and finally is deciduous: spadix shorter than 

 the spathe, cylindrical or nearly so, densely flowered, 



2385. Monstera deliciosa. 



bearing the hermaphrodite or perfect fls. above and 

 sterile fls. below; fertile or perfect fls. with no perianth, 

 and 4 stamens, and a 2-celled ovary with 2 ovules in 

 each cell: frs. many small berries, crowded or joined 

 into a multiple fr. or cone-like structure.-^-Species 27 

 as monographed by Engler & Krause in Engler's 

 Pflanzenreich, hft. 37 (1908). 



The species commonly known in horticulture is 

 Monstera deliciosa, the ceriman (Fig. 2385). It is a 

 greenhouse climber, with huge perforated leaves. As 

 the plant climbs, the stems emit long aerial roots, 

 many of which never reach the ground. The plant 

 bears an edible fruit, which has a taste between a pine- 

 apple and a banana. The fruit grows about 6 to 8 

 inches long, and looks like a long pine-cone, the rind 

 being composed of hexagonal plates. The monstera is a 

 satisfactory greenhouse subject, even in a young stage, 

 and being a great curiosity, excites much comment 

 from visitors. It is usually kept in a hothouse, but 

 succeeds in a coolhouse also. It is commonly allowed 

 to grow in a spreading rather than climbing fashion. 

 As a conservatory plant it does best when planted out 

 in a bed of rich soil, where it can be kept within 

 bounds by judicious pruning. It is not particular as to 

 soil, as it fills the pots in which it is planted with thick 

 succulent roots in a very short time. It is one of the 

 best plants for enduring the varying conditions of tern- 



