Monstera is considered a hemiepiphyte. The leaves are alternate, leathery, dark green, very large, from long (up to long in "M. dubia") and broad, often with holes in the leaf blade. The flowers are borne on a specialised inflorescence called a spadix, long; the fruit is a cluster of white berries, edible in some species. They are commonly grown indoors as houseplants. The best-known representative of the genus, "Monstera deliciosa", is also cultivated for its edible fruit which tastes like a combination of banana and pineapple. "The Plant List" recognises 48 accepted taxa (of species and infraspecific names): Previously included: Monstera
Plant tolerance to herbivory Erb "et al." 2009). However, the importance of this mechanism to tolerance is not well studied and it is unknown how much it contributes to tolerance since stored reserves mostly consist of carbon resources, whereas tissue damage causes a loss of carbon, nitrogen and other nutrients (Tiffin 2000). This form of tolerance relies on constitutive mechanisms, such as morphology, at the time of damage, unlike the induced mechanisms mentioned above. Plant architecture includes roots to shoots ratios, stem number, stem rigidity and plant vasculature (Marquis 1996, Tiffin 2000). A high roots to shoots ratio will allow plants to better absorb