Swiss cheese plant
সিংহের থাবা
Monstera deliciosa Liebm.
- light
- Part sun
- water
- Medium
- tall
- 6.0 m
- wide
- 2.0 m
Araceae
Also called Swiss Cheese Plant, Mexican Breadfruit, Windowleaf Philodendron, Monstera, Fruit salad plant
Formerly Monstera borsigiana, Monstera lennea, Philodendron anatomicum, Philodendron fenestratum, and 1 more
When it flowers
Flowers January to September in the tropics.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- LianaKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- Wet tropicalKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- Mexico (Veracruz, Oaxaca, Chiapas) to GuatemalaKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Part shade (3 to 6 h)Read from RHS and NC State Extension, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources
- Height
- 4.0 m to 8.0 mRead from RHS, one source
- Spread
- 1.5 m to 2.5 mRead from RHS, one source
- Water
- Average: moist, well drainedRead from RHS, one source
- Flowers
- WhiteRead from RHS and NC State Extension, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: RHS white; NC State Extension green, white
- Coldest it survives
- 4.5 °C (USDA zone 11a)Read from RHS and NC State Extension, checked: the middle of what its sources sayHalfway between its 2 sources, which differ. Sources differ: RHS 10 °C; NC State Extension -1.1 °C
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
Grow it with
Suggested by a rule, not by a gardener: same climate (kew), flowering when this plant does not (inaturalist), and a different shape.
African tulip treeFlowers October to December, when this does not
Artillery plantFlowers October to December, when this does not
Bitter MelonFlowers October to December, when this does not
Brazilian red-cloakFlowers October to December, when this does not
Bush clock vineFlowers October to December, when this does not
Busy LizzieFlowers October to December, when this does not
In other languages (12)
- root
- amánchacua, cuath, guel-gutzi
- Spanish
- Mano de léon, Queso suizo, Balazo
- Chinese
- 龜背竹, 龜背芋, 蓬來蕉
- French
- Faux philodendron
- Portuguese
- Costela-de-adão, Banana-abacaxi
- German
- Köstliches Fensterblatt
- Chinese (China)
- 龟背竹
- Czech
- monstera skvostná
- Russian
- Монстера деликатесная
- Japanese
- ホウライショウ, モンステラ, 蓬莱蕉
- Swedish
- monstera, Adams revben
- Lithuanian
- Nuostabioji monstera
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-26, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- RHS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, CC BY-SA 3.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- 3D model: Monstera deliciosa (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.