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Philodendron bipennifolium; photograph author not stated, no rights reserved CC0author not stated, no rights reserved · observed growing wild · 2023-03-08

Philodendron bipennifolium Schott

Fiddle-leaf philodendron; Horsehead philodendron

Araceae · Surinam, Venezuela +3 · listed by its genus as a tropical foliage plant

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Philodendron bipennifolium, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedPhilodendron bipennifolium, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedPhilodendron bipennifolium, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedPhilodendron bipennifolium, photograph Makoto Makoto, CC BY-SA, via GBIFPhilodendron bipennifolium, photograph Makoto Makoto, CC BY-SA, via GBIF 6 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Coldest month, mean nightly low
18.9°C
Jul and Aug at the habitat, not a floor; extremes not used (sea cell) CHELSA
Warmest month, mean daily high
28°C
Jan, Feb and Mar at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,777mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
24–36DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in the habitat's months, not shifted
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
A sharp rainy season, November to May (the habitat's months, not shifted), in a year of even temperature. rain rule, CHELSA
Not shifted: the shift rule does not apply to this habitat. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Philodendron bipennifolium is a plant species commonly known as the "fiddle-leaf philodendron". The climbing plant is from Brazil and has leaves with five lobes.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Philodendron bipennifolium", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Philodendron

Philodendron is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. As of September 2025, the Plants of the World Online accepted 625 species; other sources accept different numbers. Regardless of number of species, the genus is the second-largest member of the family Araceae, after genus Anthurium. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Philodendron", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Grouped as a tropical foliage plant, listed under the genus Philodendron in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “climber”, “wet tropical”.

Seasons

The rain rule reads a sharp season: 70% of the median year's rain (1,351 mm of 1,797 mm) falls in November to May. The temperature curve is flat, 3.8 °C between the warmest and coldest month, so the growing-season rule does not infer a growing season from it. Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere. The temperature curve moves under 4 °C between the warmest and coldest month, where the shift rule does not apply, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Rain

1,797 mm in the median year at the habitat, 1,351 mm of it November to May. Wettest month January at 262 mm, driest month August at 54 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,385 mm to 3,272 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,777 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 1,797 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 24 to 36 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 21, the highest 90th-percentile month 40).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 18.9 °C in July and August (across the grid cells of the range 11.7 °C to 22.7 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 27.9 °C in February (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: none read. The nearest figure is 18.9 °C, the coldest month's mean nightly low, July and August, in the median year (CHELSA); a month's mean of its nightly lows is warmer than the nights a floor is read from. The daily extremes were read at a weather cell that is mostly sea and are not used.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 62 to 68% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: 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 moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

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

Light. 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.

Temperature. CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. No cold floor is read without a daily extremes series; the coldest month's mean nightly low named in its sentence is not one. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Group. Listed under the genus Philodendron in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “climber”, “wet tropical”. A group is taken only where Kew's description of the species agrees with the table's listing. The table gives no figure and no prose; the cold floor is the habitat's alone.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Philodendron bipennifolium through the yearWarmest months January, February and March, mean daily high 28 °C; coldest months July and August, mean nightly low 18.9 °C; 1,797 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.10°15°20°25°30°35°°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500600mm rainDLI 24–36RH 62–68%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 12 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C28 / 26–2928 / 27–2928 / 26–2927 / 24–2925 / 22–2924 / 21–2923 / 21–3024 / 22–3125 / 23–3326 / 24–3326 / 25–3327 / 25–31
Night °C22 / 18–2322 / 18–2322 / 18–2422 / 16–2421 / 14–2320 / 12–2319 / 12–2319 / 13–2320 / 14–2321 / 16–2422 / 17–2322 / 18–23
Rain mm262 / 200–392208 / 160–304212 / 161–323190 / 77–416154 / 75–518119 / 52–39086 / 47–21754 / 32–14273 / 42–108114 / 56–132132 / 76–179193 / 163–328
DLI35 / 26–3835 / 27–3932 / 29–3328 / 28–3125 / 23–2724 / 21–2925 / 22–3329 / 27–3633 / 29–4036 / 33–4036 / 33–3835 / 29–37
RH %67 / 65–6967 / 65–6967 / 65–6867 / 65–6968 / 64–7066 / 62–6965 / 61–6762 / 60–6663 / 58–6664 / 57–6765 / 60–6766 / 63–69

The daily extremes were read at a NASA POWER cell that is 40% land: neither it nor the next candidates whose coldest month's mean nightly low is within 2 °C of the median across cells sit in a POWER cell that is mostly land, and the rule reads a cold floor only from a cell that is mostly land, so none is read for this species. Nor is the coldest month's mean nightly low taken as one: it is a mean of a month's lows, not its coldest night. What that cell gave over 44 years: absolute minimum 12.8 °C, 1st-percentile night 15.4 °C, 99th-percentile day 31.7 °C.

How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 12 grid cells holding the 12 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 2257:2747 (-22.875, -42.625). Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 12 distinct grid cells holding 12 of the 12 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2257:2747 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells, though its NASA POWER cell is only 40% land and none of the 1 next candidates within 2 °C of the median was mostly land); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -23.00_-42.500, lapse-corrected +148 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 183 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 the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeSurinam, Venezuela, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil North · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-22.528, -42.549 · in the densest population, 13 records (42% of those in range)
Kew's description“climber” · “wet tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 31 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 12 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 23 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 3110 km away. 7 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 19 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 31 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Philodendron bipennifolium, photograph 1did not loadPhilodendron bipennifolium, photograph 2did not loadPhilodendron bipennifolium, photograph 3did not loadPhilodendron bipennifolium, photograph 4did not loadPhilodendron bipennifolium, photograph 5did not load

Photographs: author not stated, no rights reserved · CC0 (3); Makoto Makoto, CC BY-SA, via GBIF (2).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Microsorum scolopendria Microsorum scolopendria Monarch fern Photo: CC0, author not statedPhilodendron ornatum Philodendron ornatum Araceae Photo: CC0, author not statedAvicennia schaueriana Avicennia schaueriana Acanthaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, lucas_rafaelleRhynchospora corymbosa Rhynchospora corymbosa Matamat Photo: CC BY, Scott W. GavinsHaplopteris ensiformis Haplopteris ensiformis Tape fern Photo: CC BY-SA, Greg TasneyRuellia affinis Ruellia affinis Acanthaceae Photo: CC BY, B. Phalan

Other Philodendron 93 in the reference

Philodendron angustisectum Philodendron angustisectum Araceae Photo: CC BY, Daniel MesaPhilodendron anisotomum Philodendron anisotomum Araceae Photo: CC BY-SA, YuPhilodendron appendiculatum Philodendron appendiculatum Araceae Photo: CC BY-SA, UNA EcoturismoPhilodendron atabapoense Philodendron atabapoense Araceae Photo: CC0, author not statedPhilodendron auriculatum Philodendron auriculatum Araceae Photo: CC BY, Fabrício Mil Homens RiellaPhilodendron barrosoanum Philodendron barrosoanum Araceae Photo: CC0, author not statedPhilodendron billietiae Philodendron billietiae Araceae Photo: CC BY, fmunozPhilodendron bipinnatifidum Philodendron bipinnatifidum Araceae Photo: CC BY, Paulo C. O. CunhaPhilodendron brandtianum Philodendron brandtianum Silver Leaf Philodendron Photo: CC BY, Yuri Sofronov Philodendron brasiliense Araceae Philodendron burle-marxii Philodendron burle-marxii Araceae Photo: CC BY-SA, David J. StangPhilodendron callosum Philodendron callosum Araceae Photo: CC BY, topeuna all 94 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Philodendron wayombense. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Araceae
Described by
Schott
Native to
Surinam, Venezuela, Brazil Northeast +2
Wild records
31 in range · 23 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 2 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (2 at a botanic garden or arboretum; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -23.00_-42.500, lapse-corrected +148 m at 6.5 °C/km; read, and set aside: NASA POWER's cell is mostly sea (40% land), so no cold floor is shown
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikimedia Commons commons nothing to reportasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 13 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

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