Land of giants: two new pachycaul Monstera (Araceae, Monsteroideae, Monstereae) from Panama

By

Cedeño Fonseca, Marco
Ortiz, Orlando
Hay, Alistair
Zuluaga Tróchez, Alejandro

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-12-4

Original Publication

PhytoKeys

Volume

267

Pages

109--122

Subjects

Central America , Cloud forests , Talamanca Mountain , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers [2010]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.267.170789

 

Abstract

<br> The genus<br> Monstera<br> is a diverse group of nomadic vines endemic to the Neotropics, with its greatest diversity concentrated in the montane forests of southern Central America. The Cordillera de Talamanca, spanning southern Costa Rica and western Panama, has emerged as a hotspot for pachycaul<br> Monstera<br> species which exhibit large leaf and inflorescence sizes. This study presents the discovery and description of two new giant<br> Monstera<br> species from Panama:<br> M. corana<br> and<br> M. colossica<br> . Both species occur relatively close to<br> M. gigas<br> in the cloud forests of the southern Talamanca range, an area characterised by high humidity, persistent cloud cover and heterogeneous volcanic soils. We provide detailed morphological descriptions, field observations, distribution maps and comparisons with morphologically related taxa.<br>