Monstera acuminata is a plant with a problem – it attains a
large body size, yet has no secondary growth. For many
years, observers have noted the differences in architecture
between monocots and woody dicots, particularly in terms
of overall size and comparisons of tree-like forms.
However, very little is known about the functional
morphology of smaller-bodied and ecologically significant
climbing and hemiepiphytic monocots, of which M.
acuminata is one. In its wider context, the diversity of
plant growth forms contributes to the complex structure of
many terrestrial ecosystems, where herbs, trees, shrubs,
vines, lianas, root-climbers, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes
may be said to comprise the ‘skeleton’ of the ecosystem
(Speck & Rowe, 1999). This is seen readily, for example,
in the humid tropics, which arguably possess the highest
taxonomic and structural diversity that has ever been
formed by plants on earth. In this issue, López-Portillo et
al. (pp. 289–299) investigate the development of plant
architecture in Monstera, and demonstrate a range of novel
hydraulic parameters.