Monstera deliciosa - dwarf, giant or otherwise "developmentally

From: "Jay Vannini" interbnk at infovia.com.gt> on 2000.06.10 at 03:34:05(4700) Julius - Good to see that you are back from Guyana Francais. Your observations on variations in M. deliciosa were interesting. Although the "classic" version is grown in gardens everywhere here, come to think of it, all of the wild plants I have observed in the western Guatemalan highlands WERE somewhat different from that wildly fenstrated/lacinate (?) thing that we all grew up with. While the leaves of indigenous plants get pretty big and do "shot-hole" modestly, they look much more like the first illustration in Birdsey's "The Cultivated Aroids" and identified there as 'cultigen Dwarf Ceriman" than the Oaxacan plants. Question - I have a plant of the M. deliciosa 'albo-variegata' form that appears to be heading towards giant, fenestrated splendor. Are all the plants that you see in the trade propagations from a single clone, are is this variegation fairly common in the population? Presumably this very 'coqueto' form originated in southern Mexico? 'dios - Jay

From: SelbyHort at aol.com on 2000.06.11 at 04:29:14(4723) Just some notes on history of Monstera deliciosa: I have a copy of some files from Dr. Russell Seibert who was once Director of Longwood Gardens. He has a file about Monstera deliciosa and there I found a letter (dated in 1960) from a woman who was related to Admiral du Pont. Apparently Admiral du Pont was on Admiral Perry's famous 1856 voyage around South America. It was from this voyage that Monstera deliciosa was brought to the US, probably for the first time. I believe this species was described in 1849, introduced to England (probably via a different collection and source) and illustrated in Gardener's Chronicle in 1858. I have not checked the Gardener's Chronicle to see what is writen there about this species' source in England. +More Apparently Mr. P.S. du Pont acquired the plant at some point after Admiral du Pont's death and it grew so quickly and large that he had a grand idea to build a magnificent conservatory. At that time he already owned Longwood, and this conservatory is now a feature of Longwood Gardens. Its amazing that this structure was built with housing Monstera deliciosa in mind! I am not sure if it is still there, but in 1960 the vegetative offspring of the original collection was at Longwood on display. I just thought this history was interesting. We often wonder about how and when certain plants are introduced and many times there are no traces or records to define the very first introduction, but when the details are known the stories are fascinating. Donna Atwood

From: "Julius Boos" ju-bo at email.msn.com> on 2000.06.11 at 23:44:24(4729) Hello Jay!!! >Julius - Good to see that you are back from Guyana Francais.< Yes, wonderful trip, great companions, fantastic rivers and jungle, got really lovely plants, a few surprises, and saw more beautiful species of Morpho butterflies than I have even seen, even more than in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Got most of the Bromeliads that my friend wanted, so that was good. Lots of rain, heat, insect bites and overall rough conditions, but well worth it to see and collect Anaphyllopsis , Dracontium, many lovely Philodendrons, Anthuriums, Caladiums, Xanthosomas, and Urospatha (!!!) in full bloom in their natural habitat, some were 'plants from hell' in that they were HELL to collect! Brought back seeds of Phenakospermum guayanense (spelling?) the giant Heliconia-like Musiod plant, amazing thing to see in bloom in it`s natural habitat! >Your observations on variations in M. deliciosa were interesting. Although the "classic" version is grown in gardens everywhere here, come to think of it, all of the wild plants I have observed in the western Guatemalan highlands WERE somewhat different from that wildly fenstrated/lacinate (?) thing that we all grew up with. While the leaves of indigenous plants get pretty big and do "shot-hole" modestly, they look much more like the first illustration in Birdsey's "The Cultivated Aroids" and identified there as 'cultigen Dwarf Ceriman" than the Oaxacan plants.< Lots of people seemed to be confused as to which plant they had, and my query about if there were ALSO small/dwarf forms of true M. deliciosa in cultivation in addition to the Raphidophora tetrasperma (which Pete so kindly informed us of) that only LOOKS like a M. deliciosa was un-answered. I could picture everyone going out and labeling all the TRUE small Monstera deliciosa`s in their collections as Raphidophora tetrasperma!! Have NOT ever seen Monroe`s book/paper, would love to eventually read a copy. Wonder if Monroe`s illustration of the 'Dwarf Ceriman' was a true M. deliciosa, OR the Raphidophora that Pete mentions, and which Monroe had in his collection, as well as true Monstera deliciosa?? IF poss., could you send me a Xerox of the illustration from his book??? It would be great to get a photo of the leaf of the Raphidophora and the dwarf Monstera on the 'L' for people to compare them. >Question - I have a plant of the M. deliciosa 'albo-variegata' form that appears to be heading towards giant, fenestrated splendor. Are all the plants that you see in the trade propagations from a single clone, are is this variegation fairly common in the population? Presumably this very 'coqueto' form originated in southern Mexico?< Do not know where this form originated---my guess is that it originated from a single 'sport', and I do not believe variegation to be common in this species. I have only seen it grow to about less than half the leaf size of the common 'giant'. +More Con mucho carinio, Y hasta pronto, Julio >'dios - Jay<

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