Monstera
Monstera is a genus of flowering plants. There are about 60 species in the genus. The genus belongs to the family Araceae. Originally, the plants occur in the tropical regions of Central and South America.
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| Monstera deliciosa | |
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| Genus: | Monstera Adans.
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The plants are herbs or evergreen vines. They climb other trees. They can grow to a height of about 20m. The plants also have aerial roots. These can act as hooks on branches of the tree that the plant is climbing. They grow down into the ground to support the plant. The leaves are leather, dark green, and often have holes in them. The flowers grow on a special inflorescence called a spadix. Some species have edible fruit.
Many people grow some of these species (esp. Monstera deliciosa) indoors as a houseplant. Monstera deliciosa is sometimes also grown for its fruit, which tastes somewhere between a banana and a pineapple.
In some parts of the world (other than Tropical America), some plants started to grow in the wild. This is the case for example in Portugal, on Madeira, Morocco, some parts of India and Malaysia as well as in Florida.
Other websites change
- Entry at GRIN Taxonomy for Plants Archived 2009-05-08 at the Wayback Machine
- Classification from the International Association for Plant Taxonomy Archived 2007-03-13 at the Wayback Machine