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The Swiss cheese plant, known as its botanical name Monstera, is a trendy addition to any indoor space. Here is everything you need to know about this simple but eye-catching tropical houseplant.

The monstera, nicknamed the Swiss cheese plant because of its unique appearance, belongs to the arum (Araceae) family, which originates in the American tropics. Wild monsteras are dispersed across the Caribbean, Florida, Asia, Australia, and western Mediterranean areas like Portugal and Morocco. There are over 50 varieties of this climbing vine, but Monstera deliciosa and rhaphidophora tend to be the most popular indoor varieties.

The perennial, herbaceous monstera grows between 0.5 and a staggering 3 metres tall and can flourish in some of the most challenging terrain; they can be found in between cracks in rock or climbing up cliff faces. The monstera is a climbing vine that likes to use other plants for support.

Monstera seedlings germinate wherever they fall. As the seedlings develop, they begin to crawl onto other plants, like trees, before climbing up them. Once the vine is large enough, its lower half will die off and the monstera becomes a climber. It is at this stage that long, adhesive, aerial roots shoot out from the vine. These aerial roots keep growing until they find a suitable source of nutrients, often in the forked branches of large trees. It is here that the aerial roots will dig down and supply the plant with nutrients.