XVI International Botanical Congess

The identification of Monstera ( Araceae ) species is a difficult task, especially when samples are taken from a tropical rain forest. The leaves when young resemble Philodendron leaves, aggravating the identification process. Two aims were pursued in this work: to describe morphologically Monstera species at their juvenile growth phase and to reinforce this description with the use of RAPD molecular markers. The leaves of M. deliciosa, M. lechleriana, and M. andansonii showed to be morphologically very similar. Sixty 10-mer primers were screened for polymorphism between and within species. Each primer amplified around 12 bands, two markers showed to be useful as tools to separate the species.