Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Monstera deliciosa

Flower (right) and unopened flower (left). Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, creator RA Howard, Hawaii

Ripe fruit. Photographer B Navez, unknown place

Young fruit and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, SW of Tweed Heads.

Plant and flower. Photographer maliemociones, Mexico

Common name

Fruit salad plant

Family

Araceae

Where found

Mainly where garden refuse has been dumped. Urban bushland and along streams. Sydney area and lower Blue Mountains south to near Kiama.

Notes

Introduced epiphyte, woody vine or perennial herb to 20 m tall, mostly to 1.5 m tall. Leaves alternating up the stems, 25–90 cm long, 250–750 mm broad, leathery, glossy, cordate, becoming lobed and holey in adult leaves. Individual flowers small. The spathe surrounds the cylindrical flower spike. Spike to 300 mm long. Fruit yellowish or green to purple when ripe, with a pungent smell. Edible only when fully ripe.

The description above is based on the article in Wikipedia and on the description in PlantNET of the family Araceae.

PlantNET description of the family Araceae:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=fm&name=Araceae  (accessed 19 April 2021)

Wikipedia description:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monstera_deliciosa  (accessed 19 April 2021)