Rhaphidophora guamensis

Rhaphidophora guamensis is a moderately-robust, medium-sized liana. It features leptocauly (slender primary stem with many branches). It is heterophyllous, meaning that it produces two distinct kinds of leaves.[1]

The species is only known to exist on the island of Guam, where it can be found in mixed forests, coconut plantations and on limestone.[1]

Peter C. Boyce proposed 9 groups of the Rhaphidophora genus, grouping Rhaphidophora guamensis in the "Spathacea (Hollrungii) Group" with other species from Australia, New Guinea, and Micronesia (Rhaphidophora australasica, Rhaphidophora spathacea, Rhaphidophora versteegii and Rhaphidophora waria).[2] It is most similar to Rhaphidophora spathacea from New Guinea and the Caroline Islands but has several distinguishing features.[3]

The first herbarium specimen was collected from Mount Lamlam by Donald Anderson in 1949 for the Pacific Vegetation Project,[4][5] later by Benjamin Stone (1962)[6][7] and A. Rinehart (1987),[8] labeled only as "Rhaphidophora." It was eventually described in detail and named Rhaphidophora guamensis by the British botanist, Peter C. Boyce in 2001 in The Gardens' Bulletin (Singapore).[2]

List of endemic plants in the Mariana Islands