Overview
Goeppertia cataractarum (K.Schum.) Borchs. & S.Suárez is an accepted species within the family Marantaceae, placed in the genus Goeppertia Nees. The GBIF Backbone Taxonomy records the species under key 9404071, listing the accepted name as Goeppertia cataractarum (K.Schum.) Borchs. & S.Suárez and the pre-2012 name Calathea cataractarum K.Schum. as a synonym [1]. The Plants of the World Online, maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, also accepts the species within Goeppertia Nees and characterises it as a perennial of the wet tropical biome [3].
The genus Goeppertia Nees is the largest in Marantaceae, circumscribed by Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince in 2012 to encompass approximately 260 accepted species after a molecular phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that Calathea G.Mey., as previously understood, was polyphyletic [2]. The species epithet cataractarum is a Latin genitive plural meaning 'of the waterfalls' or 'of the cascades'; it was coined by Schumann in his 1902 monographic treatment of Marantaceae in Engler's Das Pflanzenreich, which remains the protologue of record for the basionym [2].
The registry records no cultivars for Goeppertia cataractarum at this time. No International Cultivar Registration Authority has been appointed for Marantaceae, as confirmed by the International Society for Horticultural Science list of appointed registration authorities [4].
Nomenclature and Synonymy
The accepted name Goeppertia cataractarum (K.Schum.) Borchs. & S.Suárez rests on the basionym Calathea cataractarum K.Schum., published by Karl Moritz Schumann in H.G.A. Engler (ed.), Das Pflanzenreich, IV, 48 (1902) [2]. That monograph was the principal systematic treatment of Marantaceae of its era and established or consolidated many Calathea epithets that remain in nomenclatural use today.
The transfer of the species to Goeppertia was executed by Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince in their 2012 paper 'Molecular phylogeny and redefined generic limits of Calathea (Marantaceae)', published in Systematic Botany 37(3): 620–635 [2]. That revision published 246 new combinations moving the great majority of Calathea species into Goeppertia Nees. The redefined Goeppertia takes in all of the subgenera of Calathea proposed by Schumann (1902) with the exception of Calathea subgenus Calathea Körnicke (1862) [2]. The combination Goeppertia cataractarum (K.Schum.) Borchs. & S.Suárez appears in that paper on the basis of Schumann's original epithet [2].
The GBIF Backbone Taxonomy records Calathea cataractarum K.Schum. as a synonym resolving to the accepted name Goeppertia cataractarum (K.Schum.) Borchs. & S.Suárez under GBIF key 9404071 [1]. Horticultural and trade literature continue to use the pre-2012 name Calathea cataractarum; the registry records that name as a synonym.
The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) requires that a cultivar epithet be enclosed in single quotation marks — a convention observed throughout this registry — but no cultivar epithets attributed to this species are recorded in the registry at this time. No International Cultivar Registration Authority has been appointed for Marantaceae [4], and no formal register of cultivar names for Goeppertia consequently exists under any ICRA-appointed body.
Description
Diagnostic morphological characters distinguishing Goeppertia cataractarum from congeners, as stated in primary taxonomic literature, have not been retrieved in the sources consulted for this profile. The Plants of the World Online characterises the species as a perennial growing in the wet tropical biome [3], but does not provide a detailed morphological description in its taxonomic treatment. Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed.
Distribution and Habitat
The Plants of the World Online records Goeppertia cataractarum as a perennial of the wet tropical biome [3]. The registry's native_range field is null; no geographic range statement specifying a country or region has been retrieved from an approved primary or taxonomic source in the course of preparing this profile. The geographic provenance of the type collection as stated in Schumann's 1902 protologue in Das Pflanzenreich IV, 48 has likewise not been retrieved from the primary record [2]. Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed.
No conservation status assessment from the IUCN Red List or an equivalent authority has been retrieved for this species. Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed.
In Cultivation
The registry flags Goeppertia cataractarum as in cultivation. The Plants of the World Online, maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, accepts the species and records it as a perennial of the wet tropical biome [3]; its record is nomenclatural and distributional rather than horticultural, and POWO does not provide cultivation notes in its taxonomic treatment.
No authoritative cultivation documentation — such as a botanic garden accession report, a university extension publication, or primary literature on horticultural use — has been retrieved for this species in the course of preparing this profile. Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed.
Digital Towns maintains this registry as an applicant and aggregator; it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by the International Society for Horticultural Science or any appointed International Cultivar Registration Authority. As confirmed by the ISHS list of appointed registration authorities, no ICRA has been appointed for Marantaceae [4], and no formal cultivar register for Goeppertia consequently exists under an ICRA-appointed body. The registry records no cultivars for Goeppertia cataractarum at this time.