Goeppertia veitchiana

Goeppertia veitchiana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Marantaceae
Genus: Goeppertia
Species:
G. veitchiana
Binomial name
Goeppertia veitchiana
(Veitch ex Hook.f.) Borchs. & S.Suárez
Synonyms[2]
  • Calathea veitchiana Veitch ex Hook.f.
  • Calathea veitchiana var. foxii Raffill
  • Maranta veitchiana (Veitch ex Hook.f.) Van Houtte
  • Phyllodes veitchiana (Veitch ex Hook.f.) Kuntze

Goeppertia veitchiana (syn. Calathea veitchiana) is a species of flowering plant in the Marantaceae family. It is endemic to Ecuador.[2] Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

The plant was discovered near Cuenca by the Victorian plant collector Richard Pearce in 1862, and named in honour of his employers, James Veitch & Sons.[3]

Description

Inflorescence of Goeppertia veitchiana

Goeppertia vetichiana is a medium sized plant with wide, ovale, glossy green leaves. It has long, thin petioles and a long pulvinus. The back of the leaves are often purple. There is a pattern on the upper side of the leaf which makes it very recognizable. It is composed of one wide green band in the middle, with two smaller dark green bands on the edges and with another, two light green bands on each sides of the dark green ones. The inflorescence of G. veitchiana is similar to Goeppertia roseopicta, but the bracts are very hairy. The bracts can be purple or green and the flowers are white with often two purple staminodes.[4]

Similar species

In 1983, a new species of Calathea was described from Peru, that, although not closely related to C. veitchiana, shows the same leaf pattern and had been previously misidentified in collections as C. veitchiana. This new species was named Calathea pseudoveitchiana, and is now Goeppertia pseudoveitchiana.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Muriel, P.; Pitman, N. (2004). "Calathea veitchiana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2004 e.T45650A11009785. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T45650A11009785.en. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Goeppertia veitchiana (Veitch ex Hook.f.) Borchs. & S.Suárez". Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  3. ↑ James Herbert Veitch (2006). Hortus Veitchii (reprint ed.). Caradoc Doy. p. 47. ISBN 0-9553515-0-2.
  4. ↑ Curtis, William (1865). "Curtis's botanical magazine". Curtis's Botanical Magazine. 91: 5535.
  5. ↑ Helen Kennedy (1983). "A pattern mimic of Calathea veitchiana from Peru (Marantaceae)". Canadian Journal of Botany. 61 (5): 1429–1434. doi:10.1139/b83-154.