Species
+

Monstera adansonii Schott

Adanson's Monstera, Adanson's monstera, Lyann pesé, Sigin koulèv, Kawal, Bwa koulèv, Lyann fran, Monkey-Mask

Climate known 53 photographs Tropical foliage plant
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Monstera adansonii, the Adanson's monstera, Swiss cheese plant, five holes plant or monkey mask plant, is a species of flowering plant from family Araceae, which is widespread across much of South America and Central America. Monstera adansonii is classified as a hemiepiphyte vine and can be found in tropical forests with hot and high humidity conditions.

Text from Wikipedia, “Monstera adansonii”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Monstera

Monstera is a genus of 59 species of flowering plants in the arum family, Araceae, native to tropical regions of central and south America.

Text from Wikipedia, “Monstera”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Araceae
Described by
Schott
Native to
Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama +17
Wild records
1534 in range· 888 open

At a glance

Warmest month
29°C
Mar, mean day; nights 22 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
2192mm/yr
12 wet months · peak May 246 mm (CHELSA)
Light
26–35DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Grouped as a tropical foliage plant by the genus Monstera, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). Rain rule: no season, 70% of the rain takes 8 months (May to December at the habitat (not shifted)). Habitat rain 2192 mm a year, wettest May at 246 mm, driest February at 112 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 26 to 35 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 19.7 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Calla dracontium G.Mey.; Calla pertusa (L.) Kunth; Dracontium pertusum L.; Monstera adansonii var. adansonii; Monstera pertusa (L.) DeVriese and 3 more.

Cultivation

Grouped as a tropical foliage plant by the genus Monstera, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). The table supplies one figure for this group, a conventional minimum for the cold floor, and no prose.

Its year Rain rule: no season, 70% of the rain takes 8 months (May to December at the habitat (not shifted)).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads no season: 70% of the year's rain (1643 mm of 2192 mm) takes 8 months, May to December. Mean temperature moves 1.5 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere, within 10° of the equator; with no thermal season there there is no season to reverse, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 2192 mm a year, wettest May at 246 mm, driest February at 112 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

2192 mm a year at the habitat, 1643 mm of it May to December. Wettest month May at 246 mm, driest February at 112 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 1367 mm to 3792 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 26 to 35 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 26 to 35 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 21, the highest 90th-percentile month 40).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 19.7 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 19.7 °C, the absolute minimum 16.9 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 37.2 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 21.0 °C in July (across the envelope cells 14.8 °C to 24.0 °C), warmest day 28.6 °C in March (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 19.7 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER); the archetype table's minimum for a tropical foliage plant, 12 °C, is lower and does not raise it.

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence, and the archetype table's group minimum where that is higher. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 65 to 68% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 27 °C in Jul to 29 °C in Mar; mean night from 21 °C in Jul to 22 °C in Feb. The cold quarter, Jun to Aug, is the three months around the coldest night. 2192 mm of rain a year, most in May. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 1027 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 16.9 °C and the 99th-percentile day 37.2 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°15°20°25°30°35°40°37.2° 99th-percentile day (undated)16.9° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500mm rainDLI 26–35RH 65–68 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 1027 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C28 / 25–3129 / 26–3229 / 26–3228 / 25–3128 / 23–3027 / 22–2927 / 22–3027 / 22–3028 / 23–3128 / 23–3128 / 24–3028 / 25–30
Night °C22 / 18–2422 / 18–2422 / 18–2422 / 18–2422 / 17–2421 / 16–2421 / 15–2421 / 15–2422 / 16–2422 / 17–2422 / 18–2422 / 18–24
Rain mm116 / 26–345112 / 22–300152 / 29–313169 / 69–376246 / 80–478243 / 53–446203 / 48–436178 / 41–435185 / 68–439215 / 75–483202 / 83–379171 / 53–323
DLI33 / 28–3835 / 29–3935 / 29–4031 / 26–3928 / 22–3426 / 21–3228 / 22–3430 / 24–3632 / 25–3832 / 25–3831 / 25–3731 / 26–37
RH %66 / 58–7165 / 57–7165 / 58–7166 / 61–7168 / 63–7268 / 63–7367 / 62–7367 / 61–7367 / 61–7367 / 62–7367 / 62–7266 / 61–71

Each figure is the median across the 1027 grid cells holding the 1498 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1708:2100 (4.575, -74.975). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 16.9 °C, 1st-percentile night 19.7 °C, 99th-percentile day 37.2 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 1027 distinct grid cells holding the 1498 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1708:2100 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 4.50_-75.000, lapse-corrected -636 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 483 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeCosta Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Leeward Is. AB Ant, Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad-Tobago, Windward Is., French Guiana, Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil West-Central, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil North, Brazil South· introduced: Puerto Rico
Kew's description“climber” · “wet tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker4.184, -73.653 · in the densest population, 553 records (36% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 1534 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 888 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 982 km away. 40 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 36 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 1534 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Monstera adansoniiMonstera adansoniiMonstera adansoniiMonstera adansoniiMonstera adansoniiMonstera adansoniiMonstera adansoniiMonstera adansonii

Photographs: (c) B. Phalan, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); (c) Jean-Luc Ferrière, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Giovanna Roque de Castro, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (2); (c) Alexandre Magno, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Monstera adansonii, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Dynamic Shoot Morphology in Monstera adansonii Schott var. klotzschiana (Schott) Madison (Araceae)
Ivanilza Moreira de Andrade, Simon Joseph Mayo (1998) · Kew Bulletin
The Araceae in Ceará, Brazil: humid forest plants in a semi-arid region
Ivanilza Moreira de Andrade, Simon Joseph Mayo, Maria Francilene Souza Silva, Danilo José Lima de Sousa (2013) · Rodriguésia
Smart Garden Monstera Adansonii Based On IoT Using DHT11
Soraya Norma Mustika, Muladi Muladi, Anik Nur Handayani, Muhammad Afnan Habibi (2022)
Pollen viability and germination in some neotropical aroids
Denis Barabé, Karine Lavallée, Marc Gibernau (2008) · Botany
Larvicidal activity of Monstera adansonii plant extracts against Culex quinequefaciatus
R. Gomathi, Isaivani Indrakumar, S. Karpagam (2014) · Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry
A morphometric and taxonomic study of Monstera (Araceae) in Bahia, Brazil
Simon Joseph Mayo, Ivanilza Moreira de Andrade (2013) · Feddes Repertorium
Elucidation of the mechanisms of VOC removal in botanical filters during indoor air treatment in a test chamber
María Sol Montaluisa-Mantilla, Raquel Lebrero, Pedro A. García‐Encina, Raúl Muñoz (2025) · Building and Environment
Monstera adansonii-inspired lignocellulose-derived bionic solar evaporator for solar steam generation
Guichuan Yin, Di Deng, Erguang Huo, Mengna Bai (2025) · International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
KEPUTUSAN KONSUMEN TERHADAP PEMBELIAN TANAMAN HIAS SELAMA PANDEMI DI KECAMATAN KOTABUMI SELATAN
Yuni Elmita Sari, Feby Musti Ariska, Sri Lestari (2021) · Journal of Agriculture and Animal Science
As epífitas vasculares em uma área de floresta Ombrófila Densa em Antonina, Pr
MARISE P. PETEAN (2013) · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas)

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Monstera 1 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 171 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.