Monstera

A hemi-epiphyte of wet tropical forest: it germinates on the ground, crawls toward the darkest nearby shadow (the base of a tree), then climbs it toward the light. Adult plants can hang metres up a trunk, rooted in the canopy and in the ground at once.

Understorey to mid-canopy light — dappled, never full sun — with 70–90% humidity and warm nights. The famous holes and splits appear only on climbing, well-lit adult growth.

The leaf holes (fenestrations) are the plant's most debated feature. Leading hypotheses: they let a large leaf spread over more area for the same tissue, catching scattered sunflecks; they let wind through; and they let rain reach roots below. A juvenile leaf is small, heart-shaped and solid — the plant only invests in holes when it has the light to pay for them.

Aerial roots do two jobs: anchor roots grip bark, and feeder roots dive for soil. Indoors you can guide them into the pot or onto a moss pole; cutting them does no harm but removes free water uptake.

The 'fruit' is a spadix that ripens over a year into a corn-cob of hexagonal scales with a pineapple-banana flavour — hence deliciosa. Unripe it is loaded with calcium oxalate needles and burns the mouth.

Described scientifically in 1849 by Frederik Liebmann from Mexican material; grown in European hothouses from the 1840s and eaten as a novelty fruit.

Became a mid-century modern icon in the 1950s–60s, fell from fashion, then returned as the defining plant of the 2010s social-media houseplant revival.