taxonID	type	description	language	source
D7003B3518625711A6389899F17259DC.taxon	description	Figs 4, 5	en	Cedeño-Fonseca, Marco, Ortiz, Orlando O., Hay, Alistair, Zuluaga, Alejandro (2025): Land of giants: two new pachycaul Monstera (Araceae, Monsteroideae, Monstereae) from Panama. PhytoKeys 267: 109-122, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.267.170789
D7003B3518625711A6389899F17259DC.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Monstera colossica differs from M. titanum in having primary lateral veins pale green abaxially and with 2 – 3 branches close to the mid vein (vs. primary lateral veins never branched and white), short peduncle 22 cm long (vs. 25 – 48 cm long), short spathe up to 32 cm long (vs. spathe up to 47 cm long), style hexagonal with stigmatophore slightly conical (vs. style pyramidal and distally cylindrical) and always appressed-climbing (vs. appressed terrestrial on rocks or appressed-climbing).	en	Cedeño-Fonseca, Marco, Ortiz, Orlando O., Hay, Alistair, Zuluaga, Alejandro (2025): Land of giants: two new pachycaul Monstera (Araceae, Monsteroideae, Monstereae) from Panama. PhytoKeys 267: 109-122, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.267.170789
D7003B3518625711A6389899F17259DC.taxon	description	Description. Robust appressed-climbing nomadic vine. SEEDLINGS: unknown. JUVENILE PLANTS: root climbers; internodes 2.0 – 4.0 cm long, 5.0 – 7.0 mm diam.; petioles 22 – 30 cm long; sheathed up to ca. 5 cm before geniculum; leaves appressed to the phorophyte with visible petiole, blades 18 – 28 cm long, 12 – 18 cm wide, 1.3 – 1.5 times longer than broad, abruptly acuminate at apex; collective veins 3.0 – 5.0 mm from margin; margin entire or rarely pinnatilobed. ADULT PLANTS: root climbers; stems light or dark green, white punctulate, smooth, cylindrical; internodes 1.5 – 4.0 cm long, 4.0 – 7.0 cm diam., medium green, semi-glossy; petioles 50 – 65 cm long, densely and conspicuously white punctulate, especially towards base, equally as long as or 1.1 times longer than blades, sheathing to the base of the geniculum to ca. 10 cm below it, free portion sulcate; petiole sheath deciduous; geniculum sulcate adaxially and convex abaxially, 4.0 – 7.0 cm long; blades 47 – 70 × 28 – 40 cm, narrowly ovate-elliptic, mostly entire, more or less equilateral, subcoriaceous and slightly bicolorous, dark green and semi-glossy above, moderately paler and matte below, drying dark brown and weakly glossy above, greenish-yellow-brown and semi-glossy below, short-acuminate at apex, subcordate at base; mid-rib broadly sunken and concolorous above, narrowly rounded and paler below; primary lateral veins 20 – 25 per side, narrowly sunken above, convex and slightly paler green below, diverging at 50 – 70 °, sometimes branching with two to three branches within 1.0 – 3.0 cm from the mid-rib; secondary veins parallel and reticulate towards the margin; collective vein visible; fenestrations absent or present; when present, in two or three rows along the mid-rib, usually comprising small sub-circular holes 1.0 – 5.0 cm diameter, near the mid-rib; margins entire, but sometimes the larger perforations tearing through to the margins. INFLORESCENCE solitary; peduncle 20 – 22 cm long; spathe 15 – 32 cm long, 25 cm wide when flattened, coriaceous, whitish; spadix 18 – 22 cm long, 3 – 4 cm diam., greenish; basal sterile flowers 4.0 – 5.0 mm long; fertile flowers 7.0 – 9.0 mm long; stamens 3 – 8 mm long, with laminar filaments; ovary rectangular in longitudinal section, 4.0 – 6.0 × 2.0 – 3.0 mm; style hexagonal and with stigmatophore slightly conical; stigma linear; berries with a creamy stylar cap during development, ripe berry colour unknown; seeds unknown.	en	Cedeño-Fonseca, Marco, Ortiz, Orlando O., Hay, Alistair, Zuluaga, Alejandro (2025): Land of giants: two new pachycaul Monstera (Araceae, Monsteroideae, Monstereae) from Panama. PhytoKeys 267: 109-122, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.267.170789
D7003B3518625711A6389899F17259DC.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The specific epithet “ colossica ” is derived from the Latin colossus, itself from the Greek kolossos (κολοσσός), meaning “ giant statue ” or “ colossus ”, highlighting the plant’s overall massive and striking appearance.	en	Cedeño-Fonseca, Marco, Ortiz, Orlando O., Hay, Alistair, Zuluaga, Alejandro (2025): Land of giants: two new pachycaul Monstera (Araceae, Monsteroideae, Monstereae) from Panama. PhytoKeys 267: 109-122, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.267.170789
D7003B3518625711A6389899F17259DC.taxon	distribution	Distribution and ecology. Monstera colossica is endemic to Panama, known only from the type locality on the border of Chiriquí and Bocas del Toro Provinces and in Cerro Colorado at 1450 – 1480 m elevation in a Premontane rainforest life zone.	en	Cedeño-Fonseca, Marco, Ortiz, Orlando O., Hay, Alistair, Zuluaga, Alejandro (2025): Land of giants: two new pachycaul Monstera (Araceae, Monsteroideae, Monstereae) from Panama. PhytoKeys 267: 109-122, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.267.170789
D7003B3518625711A6389899F17259DC.taxon	discussion	Discussion. The species is a member of Monstera sect. Monstera and is characterised by its adult plants with an appressed-climbing habit, short internodes, minutely white punctulate and fully sheathed petioles with a sharply sulcate geniculum, large narrowly ovate-elliptic subcordate blades with two rows of small elliptic perforations on both sides and the primary lateral veins diverging at 50 – 70 ° and branching with 2 – 3 branches within 1.0 – 3.0 cm from the mid-rib. Monstera colossica specimens were included as part of M. titanum in Cedeño-Fonseca et al. (2021) as paratypes, but this species differs from M. titanum in having primary lateral veins branching with 2 – 3 branches and pale green below (vs. primary lateral veins never branched and white), short peduncle 22 cm long (vs. 25 – 48 cm long), short spathe up to 32 cm long (vs. spathe up to 47 cm long), style hexagonal with stigmatophore slightly conical (vs. style pyramidal and distally cylindrical) and always appressed-climbing (vs. appressed terrestrial on rocks or appressed-climbing) (Table 1). Monstera colossica could be confused with M. oreophila Madison, but it differs in having more robust stems, 5 – 7 cm in diameter, (vs. slender stems, 2 – 4 cm diam.), the petiole smooth and minutely white punctulate at the base (vs. petiole never punctulate, but warty or sometimes smooth), up to 25 primary lateral veins branching with 2 or 3 branches (vs. up to 45 primary lateral veins never branching), peduncle up to 22 cm long (vs. peduncle up to 40 cm long), spadix 18 – 22 × 3 – 4 cm diam. (vs. 7 – 15 × 1.3 – 3.0 cm) and the spathe whitish (vs. spathe pinkish externally and light orange-yellow internally) (Table 1). Monstera colossica also could be confused with M. gigas, but differs in having short petioles 50 – 65 cm long (vs. 66 – 140 cm long), petiole sheaths extending to the geniculum (vs. petiole sheathed up to ca. 10 – 15 cm before geniculum, the free portion terete), smaller leaf blades 47 – 70 cm long (vs. leaf blades 72 – 140 cm long), up to 25 primary lateral veins branching with two – three branches from the mid-rib (vs. up to 65 primary lateral veins never branched) and the geniculum sulcate adaxially and convex abaxially (vs. geniculum completely terete) (Table 1). M. colossica and M. gigas grow sympatrically in the cloud forest in the Fortuna area.	en	Cedeño-Fonseca, Marco, Ortiz, Orlando O., Hay, Alistair, Zuluaga, Alejandro (2025): Land of giants: two new pachycaul Monstera (Araceae, Monsteroideae, Monstereae) from Panama. PhytoKeys 267: 109-122, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.267.170789
A53952DB436C5927B21BD98363129724.taxon	description	Figs 1, 2, 3	en	Cedeño-Fonseca, Marco, Ortiz, Orlando O., Hay, Alistair, Zuluaga, Alejandro (2025): Land of giants: two new pachycaul Monstera (Araceae, Monsteroideae, Monstereae) from Panama. PhytoKeys 267: 109-122, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.267.170789
A53952DB436C5927B21BD98363129724.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Monstera corana differs from M. buseyi Croat & Grayum by having white, connected and consistently branched primary lateral veins (vs. weakly connected to each other at the base and sometimes weakly branching), 20 - 35 lateral veins per side (vs. 35 – 65 per side), blades decurrent at the geniculum (vs. broadly cuneate to truncate at base) and a thin, distally undulate petiole sheath (vs. petiole sheath never undulate).	en	Cedeño-Fonseca, Marco, Ortiz, Orlando O., Hay, Alistair, Zuluaga, Alejandro (2025): Land of giants: two new pachycaul Monstera (Araceae, Monsteroideae, Monstereae) from Panama. PhytoKeys 267: 109-122, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.267.170789
A53952DB436C5927B21BD98363129724.taxon	description	Description. Robust appressed-climbing nomadic vine. SEEDLINGS: unknown. JUVENILE PLANTS: unknown. ADULT PLANTS: root climbers; stem cylindrical, minutely white-green warty, looking like a pulverulent indument; internodes 0.5 – 7 cm long, 4 – 7 cm diam.; anchor roots blackish; feeder roots blackish; petiole 50 – 75 cm long, green, minutely white punctulate especially towards the base, minutely white-green warty the rest of its length (like the stem), sheathed along its entire length; petiole sheath thin, persistent and undulate from the middle of the petiole to the geniculum, deciduous from middle to the base; geniculum minutely white-green warty throughout, flattened adaxially and transversally convex abaxially, 5.0 – 7.5 cm long; blades 50 – 80 × 40 – 55 cm, narrowly ovate, rounded or asymmetric at base, shortly acuminate at the apex, membranaceous, decurrent on the geniculum and almost connecting with petiole sheath; mid-rib white, concave adaxially, square abaxially; primary lateral veins 20 – 35 per side, impressed adaxially, prominent abaxially the base of each vein abruptly prominent, connected to each other at the union with the main vein, thick and white up to half their length, diverging at 80 – 90 ° and often with one or two subsidiary (branching) veins starting from the base or close to the base, on either side of the primary lateral vein, running near the primary vein and then separate until they reach the margin; secondary veins parallel to the primary lateral veins; collective vein poorly visible; fenestrations scarce, near the mid-rib, when present in two rows along the mid-rib, comprising small oblong holes 0.5 – 4 cm long, often scattered towards the margin; margins entire. INFLORESCENCES solitary, produced on ascending stems; peduncle 25 cm long, minutely white-green verrucose; spathe unknown; spadix 22 cm long, 5 cm diam.; basal sterile flowers 3 – 4 mm long; fertile flowers 5 – 7 mm long; stamens unknown; anthers unknown; ovary quadrangular in longitudinal section, 2 – 3 mm long, style truncate; stigma linear; berries with the stylar cap after anthesis white, white-cream when ripe; pulp white; seeds unknown.	en	Cedeño-Fonseca, Marco, Ortiz, Orlando O., Hay, Alistair, Zuluaga, Alejandro (2025): Land of giants: two new pachycaul Monstera (Araceae, Monsteroideae, Monstereae) from Panama. PhytoKeys 267: 109-122, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.267.170789
A53952DB436C5927B21BD98363129724.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The epithet “ corana ” refers to Cora Jane, the daughter of Dr. Sarah Spaulding, who has been a supporter of several projects about Aroid conservation in Costa Rica.	en	Cedeño-Fonseca, Marco, Ortiz, Orlando O., Hay, Alistair, Zuluaga, Alejandro (2025): Land of giants: two new pachycaul Monstera (Araceae, Monsteroideae, Monstereae) from Panama. PhytoKeys 267: 109-122, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.267.170789
A53952DB436C5927B21BD98363129724.taxon	distribution	Distribution and ecology. Monstera corana is endemic to Panama, known only from the type locality (Chiriquí Grande, Bocas del Toro Provinces) at 85 m elevation in a Tropical rain forest life zone.	en	Cedeño-Fonseca, Marco, Ortiz, Orlando O., Hay, Alistair, Zuluaga, Alejandro (2025): Land of giants: two new pachycaul Monstera (Araceae, Monsteroideae, Monstereae) from Panama. PhytoKeys 267: 109-122, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.267.170789
A53952DB436C5927B21BD98363129724.taxon	discussion	Discussion. This species is a member of Monstera sect. Monstera and is characterised by its stem with densely and finely white-green warts, the green petiole white punctulate towards the base and densely and finely white-green warty towards the apex, the petiole sheath undulate from the middle of the petiole extending to the base of the geniculum, the blades narrowly ovate, rounded or asymmetric at base and weakly perforated near the mid-rib, primary lateral veins thick and white, connected to each other and the union with the main vein and abruptly prominent at the base, with subsidiary veins arising from the base or close to the base of the primary vein (Table 1). Monstera corana is most similar to M. buseyi which differs in having green petiole white punctulate toward the base and densely and finely white-green warts towards the apex (vs. petiole green with black warts), the petiole sheath distally undulate (vs. petiole sheath never undulate), leaf blade 50 – 80 × 40 – 55 cm, narrowly ovate, rounded or asymmetric at base (vs. leaf blade 27 – 75 × 11 – 33 cm, ovate to lanceolate-ovate or elliptic, broadly cuneate to truncate at base), and primary lateral veins 20 – 35 per side, white and strongly connected to each other at the base and always strongly branching (vs. primary lateral veins 35 – 65 per side, pale green and weakly connected to each other at the base and sometimes weakly branching) (Table 1). Monstera corana is also similar to M. alfaroi and M. costaricensis (Engl. & K. Krause) Croat & Grayum. However, it differs from M. alfaroi in having the green petiole minutely white punctulate toward the base (vs. petiole brown at base, brown-black and white warty), the petiole sheath thin and distally undulate, persistent from half way to the geniculum or deciduous from half way towards the base (vs. petiole sheath undulate in the new leaf and later deciduous), primary lateral veins abruptly prominent at the base connected to each other, diverging at 80 – 90 ° and with two branching veins that start from the base or close to the base (vs. primary lateral veins never connected to each other at the base, diverging at 50 – 70 ° and never branching), leaf blade membranaceous, decurrent on the geniculum and almost connecting with petiole sheath, (vs. leaf blade coriaceous or subcoriaceous, not decurrent on the geniculum) and Monstera corana occurs at 85 m elevation in Tropical rain forest whereas M. alfaroi occurs at 1100 – 1250 m elevation in Lower montane rain forest life zone (Table 1). Monstera corana differs from M. costaricensis in having the petiole sheath thin and distally undulate (vs. petiole sheath thick and undulate throughout its length), the leaf blade 40 – 55 cm wide, membranaceous and decurrent on the geniculum and almost connecting with petiole sheath (vs. leaf blade 15 – 35 cm wide, coriaceous or thinly coriaceous, slightly decurrent-undulate up to medial part of the geniculum), lateral veins abruptly prominent at the base connected to each other, diverging at 80 – 90 ° and with two branching veins that start from the base (vs. primary lateral veins never branching, departing at 45 – 65 °) and the flower in the spadix with truncate style (vs. flower in the spadix with conic style) (Table 1). Monstera corana and M. costaricensis occur sympatrically in the tropical rain forest in Chiriquí Grande area.	en	Cedeño-Fonseca, Marco, Ortiz, Orlando O., Hay, Alistair, Zuluaga, Alejandro (2025): Land of giants: two new pachycaul Monstera (Araceae, Monsteroideae, Monstereae) from Panama. PhytoKeys 267: 109-122, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.267.170789
