Overview
Goeppertia straminea (Petersen) Borchs. & S.Suárez is an accepted species within Goeppertia Nees, the largest genus in the family Marantaceae. Plants of the World Online, maintained by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, lists Goeppertia straminea (Petersen) Borchs. & S.Suárez among the accepted species of Goeppertia Nees [4]. The GBIF Backbone Taxonomy records the species under this accepted name at GBIF key 8369560 [3].
Goeppertia Nees encompasses an estimated 260 species. The great majority were transferred from Calathea G.Mey. by Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince in 2012 after molecular phylogenetic evidence demonstrated that Calathea as previously circumscribed was polyphyletic [2]. Goeppertia straminea was one of the 246 species moved as part of that revision. The epithet straminea, from the Latin for straw-coloured, follows the descriptive adjectival naming practice used throughout Petersen's Marantaceae treatments [1].
Nomenclature and synonymy
The accepted name Goeppertia straminea (Petersen) Borchs. & S.Suárez rests on the basionym Calathea straminea Petersen. Ole Georg Petersen (1847–1937), a Danish botanist, first described the species in his Marantaceae treatment contributed to the Flora Brasiliensis series edited by Martius, Eichler and Urban, published in 1890 at volume 3, part 3, pages 81–172 [1]. That treatment is the primary record in which the name Calathea straminea was established.
The current combination was published by Finn Borchsenius, Luz Stella Suárez and Linda M. Prince in their 2012 molecular phylogenetic revision of Calathea (Marantaceae), appearing in Systematic Botany 37(3): 620–635 [2]. That paper published 246 new combinations transferring species from Calathea to Goeppertia, of which the transfer of Calathea straminea Petersen was one [2].
A registry conflict has been identified regarding the full forename of the third author. The Digital Towns registry carries the name as 'Leigh Prince', while the verified research brief, citing primary sources, records the author as Linda M. Prince. This discrepancy has been flagged for human review. The abbreviated combination authority 'Borchs. & S.Suárez' is not affected, as the third author's name does not appear in abbreviated form in standard usage [3]. The GBIF Backbone Taxonomy records Petersen as the basionym author and Borchs. & S.Suárez as the combination authors at GBIF key 8369560 [3].
The name Calathea straminea Petersen remains the synonym under current taxonomy and continues to appear in horticultural contexts, as confirmed by the registry's names table sourced from the 2012 Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince revision [2]. The following names are recorded for this species in the Digital Towns registry:
Description
No morphological diagnosis of Calathea straminea Petersen drawn from an authoritative secondary source has been retrieved. The protologue resides in Petersen's 1890 Flora Brasiliensis Marantaceae treatment [1], which was not directly accessible in full text during research conducted for this page. The epithet straminea (straw-coloured) suggests a pale or yellowish coloration in some part of the plant, consistent with Petersen's documented practice of applying descriptive Latin epithets across the Marantaceae species he described [1]; however, that inference is not substituted here for the protologue text.
Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed on diagnostic characters and morphological circumscription.
Distribution
No authoritative range statement for Goeppertia straminea has been retrieved from Plants of the World Online or another taxonomic authority during research conducted for this page [4]. The Flora Brasiliensis context in which the basionym was originally described is consistent with South American provenance, as Petersen's 1890 treatment covered Marantaceae of Brazil [1]; however, no species-level range statement has been located and that inference is not offered in place of a primary record.
Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed on native range, biome, and conservation status.
In cultivation
The Digital Towns registry records Goeppertia straminea as in cultivation (in_cultivation = true) [3]. No authoritative botanic garden publication, herbarium record, or university extension document describing Goeppertia straminea specifically in a cultivation context has been retrieved in searches conducted for this page.
No cultivars of Goeppertia straminea are recorded in the Digital Towns registry.
Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed.
Cultivar registration context
No International Cultivar Registration Authority has been appointed for Marantaceae. The International Society for Horticultural Science maintains the global list of appointed ICRAs by family and genus; Marantaceae does not appear on that list, meaning no body holds the mandate to formally register cultivar names in Goeppertia, Calathea, or related genera [5]. The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants requires that a cultivar epithet be enclosed in single quotation marks; no cultivars of Goeppertia straminea are recorded in the Digital Towns registry at the time of this page.
Digital Towns is an applicant and aggregator; it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operating under the ISHS or any appointed ICRA.