Click on images to enlarge
growing in bushland (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
habit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
growing as an epiphyte (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of stem with aerial roots (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
very large deeply-divided leaf (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
flower cluster and immature fruit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
young plant (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of flower 'spike' surrounded by large white spathe (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
Scientific Name
Monstera deliciosa Liebm.
Family
Araceae
Common Names
ceriman, cheese plant, cut-leaf philodendron, fruit salad plant, fruit-salad plant, Mexican breadfruit, monstera, split leaf philodendron, split-leaf philodendron, splitleaf philodendron, Swiss cheese plant, Swiss-cheese plant, taro vine, tarovine, window leaf, windowleaf
Origin
Native to Mexico and Central America (i.e. Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama).
Naturalised Distribution
Occasionally naturalised in the warmer temperate, sub-tropical and tropical regions of eastern Australia (i.e. in the coastal districts of central and northern New South Wales and south-eastern and northern Queensland).
Notes
Fruit salad plant (Monstera deliciosa) is regarded as an environmental weed in New South Wales. This very common garden plant has become a weed of riparian areas and urban bushland, particularly in the warmer parts of eastern Australia. It is relatively common in coastal areas, usually growing where garden refuse has been dumped. Fruit salad plant (Monstera deliciosa) is probably under-represented in herbarium collections as it is easily identified and its very large leaves make it difficult to collect. It was first recorded in New South Wales in 2003, but has probably been naturalised for some time.
This species appears on some local environmental weed lists in coastal New South Wales (i.e. in Warringah City, Gosford City and Byron Shire). It is naturalised in coastal areas and is also scattered throughout the lower to mid Blue Mountains and has been recorded from urban bushland in the Hornsby Plateau region to the north of Sydney. For example, fruit salad plant (Monstera deliciosa) is listed as a common environmental weed in O'Regan Reserve in the Upper Parramatta River Catchment, a weed of disturbed woodlands and heathlands in Gosford, a weed of Crystal Waters Wetlands in Coffs Harbour, an environmental weed along Kincumber Creek in Gosford, a weed in Jackson Park in the Blue Mountains and a weed of Lamorna Avenue Reserve and Laurence Street Reserve in Hornsby.
Fruit salad plant (Monstera deliciosa) was also only recently recorded as naturalised for the first time in Queensland. However, it is relatively common in bushland in suburban Brisbane, with some naturalised plants growing up 5 m or more into the canopies of trees. It is mainly found growing where garden waste has been dumped along roadsides and waterways (e.g. along Enoggera Creek, Ithaca Creek and the Brisbane River).
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