Monstera subpinnata Seeds | Split-leaf Monstera
LATIN NAME: Monstera subpinnata
COMMON NAME: Split-leaf Monstera
Plant Profile
Split-leaf monstera is the odd one out in its genus, and it makes the point the moment a mature leaf unfolds: the blade is cut almost to the midrib. Where its relatives produce broad leaves with holes and splits that stop short of the centre vein, this species divides its blade into separate pinnae, so that a mature leaf looks like a fern frond or a hand of green fingers. The plant is a climber of the western Amazon — Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia and western Brazil — where it grows in the understorey of wet lowland forest, its stems shingling up a trunk and its aerial roots running along the bark. Leaves reach 40 to 60 cm. It stays smaller and more slender than M. deliciosa, and it is much less often seen in cultivation, which is the main reason it is not better known. The inflorescence is a narrow cream spadix, rarely produced indoors.
Science & Biotechnology
Leaf dissection in Monstera is a continuum, and this species sits at the far end of it. The developmental question is the same one that produces fenestration in M. deliciosa: patches of tissue at the leaf margin fail to expand, and the pattern of that failure determines whether you get a hole, a split, or a fully separated pinna. Work on the genus has shown that the process is under simple genetic control and can be shifted by environment, which is why juvenile and adult leaves of the same plant can look like different species. M. subpinnata’s pinnate blade has been interpreted as an extreme of the same programme rather than a separate innovation. In the wild the divided leaf casts a broken shadow, which may be an advantage in the flickering light of the understorey. The genus is also a model for aerial-root physiology.
Uses & Benefits
It is a collector’s plant, grown for the curiosity of a monstera that looks like a fern, and it is best in a large terrarium or a warm, humid glasshouse where the air stays above 60 per cent humidity. In a living room it survives but the leaves stay small and the pinnae narrow. It climbs well on a cork tube or a moss pole and can be trained up a corner, and it is light enough not to need heavy support. The fruit, where it is produced, is not eaten; the genus is not grown for food, and the oxalate content of the unripe tissue applies here as elsewhere. In the tropics it is occasionally used as a cover for tree trunks and walls in shade gardens, where its fine-cut foliage is a useful texture against broad-leaved companions.
Growing from Seed
Sow fresh seed, which is short-lived, on the surface of a mix of coir, perlite and fine bark at 25 to 28 °C with high humidity; germination takes three to six weeks and the seedlings are slow to make their first divided leaf. Grow them in bright, filtered light and keep the mix evenly moist but never saturated. Pot on when the roots fill the container, and give the plant a support from the start, because the climbing habit begins early. Feed with a dilute liquid feed through the growing season and flush the pot occasionally to prevent salt build-up. The first leaves will be entire and heart-shaped; the pinnate form arrives with maturity and good light, usually in the second or third year.
Our Take
A connoisseur’s monstera, worth growing for the geometry of its leaves and the reminder that a genus can hold more than one idea.
Related Reading
More species in the same orbit as Split-leaf Monstera: