Monstera obliqua

Monstera obliqua is the single wild species behind every locality and 'form' name on this page: not a group of related but separate species, but one taxon whose leaf shape and fenestration pattern varies noticeably across its enormous native range, from Panama down through the Andean foothills of Ecuador and Peru to Trinidad and French Guiana. True obliqua is defined by extreme fenestration (holes and slits can occupy 70-90% of the leaf surface, leaving only thin ribbons of paper-thin, almost translucent tissue between them) and by long leafless stolons that creep across the forest floor searching for something to climb before producing leaves at all. It is also, by wide agreement among collectors and taxonomists, the most mislabeled plant in the hobby: the overwhelming majority of plants sold under this name are actually Monstera adansonii, whose leaves are thicker, less extremely fenestrated, and never produce true obliqua's exploratory stolons. Because appearance genuinely differs by locality, no single form is more 'authentic' than another. The specimens on this page are grouped as siblings of one variable species rather than ranked under one another.

Native range

Lowland rainforest from Panama through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Trinidad and French Guiana

Classification

Genus

Monstera

Family

Araceae

Type

Wild

Growth habit

Vining, with long leafless exploratory stolons before climbing

Morphology

Leaf shape

OvateEgg-shaped leaves, with the wider end near the base., asymmetric (obliquely lobed base, hence the name)

Leaf length

6-12 cm

Leaf width

4-9 cm

Petiole colour

Slender, pale green

Venation

Reduced to thin ribbons of tissue between fenestrations

Texture

Paper-thin, almost translucent when held to light

Variegation

N/A: fenestration pattern (hole size, density and leaf-tissue ratio) varies by locality/wild population rather than true colour variegation

Growth habit

Trailing/climbing with long leafless stolons