The species is solely known from the Middle to Late Paleocene (about 60 to 58 Ma), fossil-rich Cerrejón Formation in La Guajira, northern Colombia.

[1] The specific epithet "aquatica", a derivation of the Latin "aquaticus", was chosen by the authors in reference to the species having lived near to, or in water.

M. aquatica is placed within the living Araceae genus Montrichardia due to the unique combination of leaf morphology characters present in the fossils.

Each of the basal lobes is supplied by a secondary vein which forms part of the margin and forks several times.

[1] The paratype specimens were recovered from gray siltstones underlying one of the thickest coal sequences in the Cerrejón Formation.