Goeppertia reginae

Goeppertia reginae (J.M.A.Braga) Borchs. & S.Suárez is an accepted species in the family Marantaceae, placed in the genus Goeppertia Nees. The GBIF Backbone Taxonomy (dataset d7dddbf4-2cf0-4f39-9b2a-bb099caae36c) records this as the accepted name under GBIF key 7820252 [1]. The species is a perennial herb characteristic of the genus, and its native range is the Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro State in south-eastern Brazil, as stated in the protologue [2].

Goeppertia Nees is the accepted botanical name for the largest genus in Marantaceae, encompassing an estimated 260 species. The great majority of those species were transferred from Calathea G.Mey. to Goeppertia by Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince in 2012, who published 246 new combinations after demonstrating that Calathea as previously circumscribed was polyphyletic [3]. Goeppertia reginae was among the names included in that transfer. The synonym Calathea reginae J.M.A.Braga remains in continued horticultural use for this species.

The registry records no cultivars of Goeppertia reginae at the time this page was compiled (August 2026). No International Cultivar Registration Authority has been appointed for Marantaceae; the International Society for Horticultural Science maintains the list of appointed authorities and, as of August 2026, no authority for the family appears on that list [6].

The accepted name is Goeppertia reginae (J.M.A.Braga) Borchs. & S.Suárez, as confirmed by the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy under key 7820252, accessed 11 August 2026 [1]. The basionym is Calathea reginae J.M.A.Braga, published by João Marcelo Alvarenga Braga in a paper titled 'Two new species of Calathea (Marantaceae) from South-eastern Brazil', appearing in Kew Bulletin in 2008 [2].

A registry conflict exists regarding the precise page range of the Kew Bulletin article. The registry records the basionym citation as Kew Bull. 63: 449-455 (2008). A primary record accessed via the publisher PDF records the pages as 309-314 (2008) [5]. This discrepancy has been flagged for human review and is not resolved by this registry entry.

The combination transferring Calathea reginae to Goeppertia reginae was published by Finn Borchsenius, Santiago Suárez and Lila Prince in their molecular phylogenetic revision of Marantaceae, 'Molecular phylogeny and redefined generic limits of Calathea (Marantaceae)', published in Systematic Botany 37(3): 620-635 in 2012 [3]. That revision demonstrated the polyphyly of Calathea G.Mey. as previously circumscribed and published 246 new combinations transferring names into Goeppertia Nees [3].

The single documented synonym is Calathea reginae J.M.A.Braga (2008), which resolves to the accepted name Goeppertia reginae. No further synonyms are recorded in the registry at this time.

Goeppertia reginae is a perennial herb, as is characteristic of the genus Goeppertia Nees. The protologue published by Braga in Kew Bulletin (2008) provides the original description, circumscription and illustration based on specimens from the Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro State, south-eastern Brazil [2]. That paper described the species alongside Calathea dryadica as two new species endemic to the Atlantic Forest. Braga characterised both as confined to areas of restricted geographic occurrence, portions of which are enclosed by densely urbanised areas in Rio de Janeiro State [2].

Detailed morphological characters, as stated in the protologue, are available in the primary publication at doi:10.1007/s12225-008-9024-z. The registry does not reproduce another authority's morphological descriptions in full. No secondary peer-reviewed description of Goeppertia reginae was located in the sources gathered for this page beyond the 2008 protologue.

Braga was an active Marantaceae taxonomist with a publication record in Brazilian Marantaceae nomenclature prior to the 2008 protologue. His 2005 paper in Acta Botânica Brasílica, 'Marantaceae: novidades taxonômicas e nomenclaturais III', addressed typifications, synonymies and a new combination in Calathea, establishing his sustained engagement with the group [4].

The protologue published in Kew Bulletin (2008) states that Calathea reginae (now Goeppertia reginae) is endemic to the Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro State in south-eastern Brazil. Braga noted that both new species described in that paper are confined to areas of restricted geographic occurrence, some of which are enclosed by densely urbanised areas, and assessed them as critically endangered on that basis at the time of description [2].

The registry fact pack records the fields native_range and habitat as null in the current species row, reflecting that those fields have not yet been populated from a confirmed primary source in the registry pipeline [1]. The range statement from the Kew Bulletin protologue (Atlantic Forest, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil) is the primary authoritative record and supersedes any inferred range.

No independent IUCN Red List assessment for Goeppertia reginae has been located in the sources gathered for this page. The critically endangered assessment in the Braga 2008 protologue reflects the status at the time of description; any updated formal conservation status assessment would require a separate IUCN citation. Limited authoritative sources available on current conservation status; further research needed.

The registry records in_cultivation as true for Goeppertia reginae. No authoritative source confirming its cultivation status in botanic gardens, herbarium notes or peer-reviewed horticultural literature has been located in the searches conducted for this page. Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed.

The Kew Bulletin protologue (Braga 2008) describes the species as new at the time, with a restricted native range in the Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro State and a critically endangered assessment at the time of description [2]. Beyond the in_cultivation flag recorded in the registry, no independent botanic garden records, university extension documentation or peer-reviewed cultivation literature for this species was returned in the searches conducted for this page.

No International Cultivar Registration Authority has been appointed for Marantaceae [6]. No registered cultivars are on record for Goeppertia reginae in this registry at the time of compilation. The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) requires a cultivar epithet to be enclosed in single quotation marks; the denomination class for Goeppertia in this registry is recorded as 'goeppertia', consistent with the accepted genus name.