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
Actinidia deliciosa Cultivation spread from China in the early 20th century when seeds were introduced to New Zealand by Isabel Fraser, the principal of Wanganui Girls' College, who had been visiting mission schools in China. The seeds were planted in 1906 by a Wanganui nurseryman, Alexander Allison, with the vines first fruiting in 1910. People who tasted the fruit thought it had a gooseberry flavour, so began to call it the Chinese gooseberry, but being from the genus "Actinidia", it is not related to the gooseberry family, Grossulariaceae. The familiar cultivar "Actinidia deliciosa" 'Hayward' was developed by Hayward Wright in Avondale, New