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 of ripening by its bottommost scales becoming yellowed. As it ripens, the starch that was stored in the green fruit is converted to sugar, giving it its sweet flavor. This mechanism is comparable to how banana fruits ripen. The strong odor the fruit produces becomes noticeable when it is half-ripe. As time passes and the fruit continues to ripen, the odor becomes stronger. After it becomes fully ripe, however, the scent deteriorates quickly. The fruit may be ripened by cutting it when the first scales begin to lift up and it begins to exude a pungent odor. It is wrapped