Monstera deliciosa plant (or just cheese plant), monster fruit, monsterio delicio, monstereo, Mexican breadfruit, windowleaf, balazo, Penglai banana and (inaccurately) split leaf philodendron. The names in Spanish ("costilla de Adán"), Portuguese ("costela-de-adão"), and French ("plante gruyère") refer to the change of the leaves from entire to fenestrated (comparing it in the first two cases with the ribs of Adam and in the third with the hole-filled gruyère cheese). In Mexico, the plant is sometimes referred to as "piñanona". This member of the arum family Araceae is an epiphyte with aerial roots, able to grow up to in the wild high with large,
Monstera deliciosa seeds fall to the ground, then the seedlings crawl (negative phototropism) until they meet a tree on which to attach. The many adjacent roots thus allow the plant to anchor against its new support and reach the canopy light (although it rarely grows in full sun and prefers a light dimmed by the foliage). Wild plants can also be found in North America (Florida), Asia (Malaysia, India), Australia and the western Mediterranean (Portugal, Morocco, Madeira). The plant requires a lot of space and a rich and loose soil (ideally garden soil and compost in equal parts). If it grows in