The Genus Bognera Mayo and Nicolson (Araceae)

The genus Bognera Mayo & Nicolson with its single species Bognera recondita (Madison) Mayo & Nicolson, is described and illustrated and its relationships are discussed in detail. Discussions of its history, discovery, distribution, ecology, pollination, etymology and cultivation are given. The genus Bognera is characterized by its creeping rhizome shoot architecture with two cataphylls preceding each foliage leaf, the last one partly enveloping the petiole (a character unique in the family), the essentially parallel-pinnate venation type (philodendroid) but with third order veins in a clearly reticulate pattern, the unconstricted spathe, the stamens of each male flower connate into a synandrium, the female flowers lacking staminodes, the unilocular ovary with a single anatropous ovule on a basal placenta and the inaperturate pollen grains with smooth (psilate) exine.