Maianthemum monteverdense is a perennial flowering plant of restricted distribution. It grows as an epiphyte on trees in high cloud forests of 1600 m + elevation from Nicaragua to Costa Rica.
Plants grow tall. Roots grow uniformly along forked rhizomes that are wide. Stems are arching and leafy; usually with 12-16 leaves set apart (closer near the top of the plant).
Leaves usually clasp the stalk or sometimes have a short, 1âÂÂ2 mm long petiole. Leaf blades are egg- to lance-shaped with pointed tips and rounded bases long by wide and with flat (not wavy) edges. Veins are prominent and the leaf surface is hairless and shiny.
Forty to 60 flowers are set on a branched flowering stalk (panicle). The main axis of the panicle is usually 15âÂÂ20 cm long, pendent and slightly flexuous. It is hairless, shiny and light green. The side branches of the panicle are short, spreading, set at about 1âÂÂ2 cm intervals along the main axis and are arranged in a helix. Each side branch has 4-6 flowers, set on 1âÂÂ2.5 cm long stalks (pedicels).
The flowers are cup-shaped and made up of yellow-green tepals 5-5.5 mm long and 2 mm wide. Stamens are inserted at the base of the tepals. Fruits are 3-lobed, 10âÂÂ12 mm across, green ripening to red. Flowering occurs from December to February and fruits remain on the plant into August.
Found in Costa Rica from the provinces of Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, and Puntarenas and in Nicaragua from Jinotega departmento.
Maianthemum monteverdense is an epiphyte that grows on canopy trees of cloud forests, but will persist in blow-downs under an open canopy. It is generally found at sites from 1600 to 1700 m elevation, but has been found at sites below 1000 m elevation in Nicaragua and up to 2300 m in Costa Rica.
Maianthemum monteverdense is similar to Maianthemum amoenum. Both are epiphytes of cloud forests, but M. amoenum is a smaller plant with a shorter, erect flowering panicle with a red rather than green central axis.