Re: Monstera with glaucous spadices

From: Tom Croat <croat at mobot.org> on 1997.01.08 at 22:05:22(83) Todd and Peter: I don't really know which of you this message is going to but there are species of Monstera with glaucous spadices but Monstera can not be easily determined from a brief description. Even a photo would be helpful. Tom Croat +More t o> > Todd > > Saw your mail about Rhaphidophora vs Philodendron and felt driven to > put finger to keyboard. Rhaphidophora hasn't been 'retired' in favour of > Philodendron. Both are 'good' genera and are, in fact, not even closely > related (other than both being in Araceae). > > Rhaphidophora is in tribe Monstereae along with Monstera, Scindapsus, > Rhodospatha, Amydrium, Alloschemome, Stenospermation and > Epipremnum. Tribe Monstereae is grouped with tribes Spathiphylleae > (Spathiphyllum & Holochlamys), Anadendreae (Anadendrum) and > Heteropsideae (Heteropsis) in subfamily Monsteroideae. > Philodendron is the only genus in tribe Philodendreae and is most > closely related to tribes Homalomeneae (Furtadoa and Homalomena) and > Anubiadeae (Anubias) and probably also linked to tribe Culcasieae > (Culcasia and Cercestis (including Rhektophyllum)), and belongs to > subfamily Aroideae. > > Having bored most subscribers silly with the above, the question > remains as to what the plant in Huntington is. > > >From your description of the leaves and, especially, the glaucous > infructescences, I would GUESS that the plant IS Rhaphidophora > decursiva (tropical and subtropical Himalaya, extending to N. > Thailand, N. Vietnam, Laos and 'tropical' China). However, I'd need to see a > specimen of the leaf and a ripe infructescence to be sure. If it is > a Rhaphidophora then each ovary of the fruit would contain many small > ellipsoid seeds with a smooth, rather brittle, seed coat. > > Another possibility is that it could be Epipremnum pinnatum is one > of its MANY manifestations. Plants of E. pinnatum from Cebu, > Philippines, are notably glaucous, especially the infructescences. > However, the lack of leaf lamina perforations doesn't support this > being E. pinnatum, which is invariably perforate. Alternatively, it > might be a Monstera. Although I am not aware of a species with > glaucous infructescences, I don't know Monstera at all well and > you'd be best asking Tom Croat if there are any Monstera that might > fit the bill. > > Pete > > P. Boyce > Herbarium > RBG Kew > p.boyce@lion.rbgkew.org.uk > > > >

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