How many kinds of Monsteras are there?

There are 59 recognized species in the genus Monstera, and the one sitting on your windowsill is almost certainly one of two of them. The practical count for a houseplant owner is closer to 5 to 10: the species that made it into commerce did so because they happened to be tough enough to survive a living room, not because they represent the genus well. Most Monstera species grow as enormous forest climbers adapted to specific rainforest microclimates, and they've never been propagated commercially because there's no pathway to do it profitably. Monstera obliqua, the genus's most talked-about species in collector circles, has leaves that are more than 90% open space (almost no leaf tissue at all) and grows so slowly that almost everything sold under its name is actually a different plant.

Monstera deliciosa — the one nearly everyone has

Monstera deliciosa is what most people picture when they hear the word Monstera: the large, glossy leaves with slits and holes that show up on everything from wallpaper to tote bags. As a juvenile, the plant puts out solid, heart-shaped leaves with no perforations. As it matures and climbs, it develops the fenestrated (hole-bearing) leaves that gave it the "Swiss cheese plant" nickname, though that name is used more loosely than it should be.

What the shop sells as deliciosa is often not true deliciosa. Most of what you'll find is actually Monstera borsigiana, which looks nearly identical but stays a bit smaller and grows a bit faster. True deliciosa is identifiable by more pronounced ruffles where the petiole meets the stem, slightly wider node spacing, and leaves that, at full maturity, can be considerably larger than what borsigiana achieves indoors.

The care requirements for both are essentially the same: bright indirect light, well-draining potting mix, watering when the top two inches of soil are dry. Neither is fussy about humidity.

Monstera deliciosa is a good starting point for most beginners because it tolerates a wide range of indoor conditions and gives you the dramatic fenestrated look without requiring anything special.

Monstera deliciosa vs. Monstera borsigiana — the confusion most shops ignore

Borsigiana is frequently sold as deliciosa and looks nearly identical to most buyers. For everyday use this doesn't much matter. Both are beautiful, easy to grow, and will reward you with the same dramatic fenestrated foliage. But if you're paying a premium for "true deliciosa," it's worth knowing what you're looking at.

The clearest distinguishing feature is the petiole ruffle: on genuine deliciosa, there's a small raised ridge where the leaf stalk meets the stem. On borsigiana, this ruffle is absent or much less pronounced. Mature leaf size is another indicator, though you need mature plants side by side to call it with confidence.

A Monstera whose petioles look smooth at the node is almost certainly borsigiana. Neither is a worse plant. Borsigiana is arguably easier to manage indoors. But the difference matters when the label says "true deliciosa" and the price reflects it.

Monstera deliciosa and adansonii share the genus but look and grow quite differently, which matters when you're deciding between the two most common species at a shop.

The ones sold as Monsteras that aren't

Some of the most commonly sold "Monsteras" in plant shops aren't Monsteras at all. They belong to different genera entirely, and while the confusion is commercially convenient, it's worth knowing which is which.

• Rhaphidophora tetrasperma (sold as "mini Monstera" or "Monstera minima"): Much smaller leaves, thinner stems, and no large aerial root nodes as the plant scales. Grows faster than deliciosa and stays smaller. A useful plant, but a different one. The split leaves look like miniature Monstera leaves, which explains the marketing.
• Split-leaf philodendron (Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum): Produces deeply cut, pinnate leaves rather than the perforated (fenestrated) leaves Monsteras develop. The growth habit is different too. It produces a thick, palm-like trunk as it matures rather than climbing.
• Epipremnum pinnatum (sometimes labeled in trade as a Monstera): Narrower, elongated leaves. The perforations appear only on very mature specimens, and the plant lacks the true fenestrations of a Monstera. The holes are cuts from the leaf edge inward, not enclosed perforations.

Rhaphidophora tetrasperma is not a Monstera, despite the "mini Monstera" label you'll see at most shops. The two genera separated long before the common ancestor developed Monstera-style fenestrations.

The variegated cultivars — same species, different price tag

Thai Constellation, Albo Variegata, and Aurea are not separate species. They are cultivars of deliciosa or borsigiana with mutations that affect how much chlorophyll their cells produce, and where. The result is leaves with cream, white, or yellow patterning alongside the usual green.

Thai Constellation gets its name from the cream-yellow speckles scattered across its leaves, which resemble a star map. Its variegation is stable because it was developed through tissue culture: the mutation is consistent cell-to-cell, so new leaves reliably carry the pattern. Albo Variegata has a more dramatic white-and-green pattern, but the variegation is chimeric. It occurs at the cell boundary level and can be inconsistent. New leaves sometimes come out mostly white (which is fragile and often dies back), mostly green, or perfectly marbled. You can't predict which you'll get. Aurea produces yellow-gold patches rather than white, and tends to be rarer in cultivation.

The care requirements for all three are roughly the same as for standard deliciosa, with one caveat: heavily variegated leaves have less chlorophyll and photosynthesize less efficiently, so these plants need more light than their green counterparts.

Did you know? Thai Constellation's variegation is stable because it was developed through tissue culture rather than occurring as a natural chimeric mutation. The pattern is consistent at the cellular level, so new leaves reliably carry the same cream-yellow speckles, unlike the more unpredictable Albo Variegata.

The rarest Monstera cultivars in the market are mostly variegated forms with very low propagation rates, which is why their prices haven't come down much even as tissue culture production has scaled.

The other species you can actually find

Beyond deliciosa and borsigiana, a handful of genuinely distinct Monstera species show up in the enthusiast market with some regularity.

Adansonii is the most common after deliciosa. The holes in its leaves are enclosed perforations, windows punched through the leaf surface, which is what separates a true Monstera fenestration from the edge-cut pattern of Rhaphidophora tetrasperma. It trails easily, works in hanging baskets, and is reasonably forgiving.

Siltepecana is worth knowing about because the juvenile and adult forms look so different they're regularly mistaken for different species. Juvenile plants have small, silvery leaves with subtle patterning; adult plants that have climbed a support develop larger, more typical Monstera-looking foliage.

Pinnatipartita produces lobed leaves where the cuts run almost to the midrib, giving it a palm-like appearance. People unfamiliar with it often assume it's a different genus entirely.

Standleyana is the odd one out: narrow, speckled leaves that look unlike any other Monstera on the list. It grows more compactly and doesn't produce the dramatic fenestrated look most buyers associate with the genus.

Monstera obliqua — the one that's almost never what it says

Monstera obliqua is arguably the most famous plant in collector circles that almost no one has actually seen. The real thing has leaves that are 90% or more open space. More hole than leaf, a skeleton of tissue with gaps filling the rest. It grows as a delicate, slow-moving climber in a narrow range of South American rainforest, and almost nothing sold as obliqua is actually obliqua.

Almost everything labeled obliqua in the plant trade is M. adansonii. Adansonii has more substantial leaves, grows at a normal pace, and is one of the most available Monsteras on the market. Obliqua has tissue-thin leaves, grows very slowly, and the few specimens in cultivation outside botanical gardens can take years to produce a single new leaf at a healthy pace.

Did you know? A true Monstera obliqua leaf can be more than 90% open space. The plant essentially grows a skeleton of leaf tissue with the holes filling the rest. Under the right light, you can read through the leaf.

How to tell them apart: adansonii leaves have substantial tissue between the perforations, with the green portions clearly dominating. True obliqua leaves look like they're mostly dissolved. The effect under a light source is dramatic. The leaf barely registers as a surface. If a plant sold as obliqua doesn't look fragile enough to worry about, it's almost certainly adansonii.

The 50+ species you won't find at a nursery — and why

The 59 recognized species are not 59 different options you could theoretically grow at home. Most exist in botanical collections or in the wild and have never entered commercial propagation.

The reasons are biological. Most Monstera species are hemiepiphytes (plants that begin life on the ground, then grow toward and eventually up trees), adapted to specific rainforest understory conditions with consistent humidity, dappled light, and temperatures that don't fluctuate the way a home does. They grow large. Many species produce leaves measured in feet at maturity. And they grow slowly on a commercially unhelpful timescale. There is almost no financial incentive to develop propagation pipelines for plants that take years to grow to saleable size, when deliciosa and adansonii are available, easy, and already familiar to buyers.

Many of the lesser-known species are also endemic to very small geographic ranges. Some grow only in a particular stretch of a particular country's cloud forest at a specific elevation. The conditions that suit them are hard to replicate even in specialized greenhouses, let alone nurseries optimizing for throughput.

The result: 59 species in the genus, roughly 5 to 10 in commerce, and maybe 3 or 4 that you'll actually see on a shelf without specifically seeking them out.

Which Monstera to start with

The right choice depends on what you're after.

Forgiving, impressive, low-maintenance: Go with deliciosa or borsigiana. Both are easy to find, tolerant of average indoor conditions, and will eventually produce the large fenestrated leaves that made the genus famous. Borsigiana grows a bit faster and stays more manageable in smaller spaces.

Small space or trailing look: Adansonii. It works in a hanging basket, trails attractively, and produces a different leaf shape than deliciosa, rounder, with distinct enclosed holes. It's also one of the easiest Monsteras to keep healthy.

Interested in going deeper into the genus: Look for siltepecana or pinnatipartita. Both are more unusual than the standard deliciosa and offer different leaf shapes and growth habits. They're less common in shops but worth seeking out once you're comfortable with the basics.

Budget for a collector piece: Thai Constellation over Albo Variegata. The stable tissue-culture variegation means you're not gambling on whether the next leaf comes in mostly green or mostly white. It's easier to plan around.

Most Monstera species are built for a specific microhabitat in a specific stretch of rainforest, not for a windowsill in a city apartment. The few that made it into cultivation did so because they happened to be tough enough to survive almost anything, not because they're the most interesting members of the genus. That's worth sitting with when you pick your first one.