What is a Swiss cheese plant?
Swiss cheese plant is a common name for large leaf tropical vines with air roots, which bears large edible fruit. The name comes from decorative holes and slots, which makes the leaves resemble Swiss cheese. The scientific name of the plant is Monster Deliciosa and other common names include fruit salad plant, leaf philodendron and Mexican bread. It grows to a tree in the wild and is commonly grown as an internal houseplant in cultivation. The vines grows very quickly, but the fruit can take more than a year to ripen enough to eat.
The Swiss cheese plant is a climbing vine that needs a tree or other support, and has air roots that grow from the vine, rooted when they touch the ground. It can grow up to 30 feet (9 m) under optimal wild conditions. The leaves are huge, usually reaching a length of 1.5 to three feet (0.5 to 0.9 m) long and have a strong, leather feeling. The ripes of ripe are developing various holes and slotsny. The Swiss cheese plant produces a large cream cream, which contains fruit in the center, which measures about 10 inches (25 cm) long and 1.2 to 1.6 inches (3 to 4 cm) in diameter and resembles a green, scale covered with corn ear.
The native area of the Swiss cheese plant is Central America, from southern Mexico to the south to Panama. It is commonly found in tropical rainforest and prosper in high humidity. Usually it grows and crawls on the trunk of the tree towards the sunlight, with most of the plant remaining in the shade. It requires a warm environment and is killed by frost, so it is usually grown as a house plant in a colder climate.
The fruit of the Swiss cheese plant is toxic before it matures completely due to the high concentration of oxalic acid. If he eats, it will cause painful irritation and swelling in the throat, blisking and loss of voice. Fruit is ripe and safe to eat when it is easy toknocking green scales that are obscuring, easy to knock; This often takes a year or more. Once mature, the scales can be shaken and the meat inside, which has a taste like pineapple or mango, can be eaten.
6 It needs enough water to make the soil at all times moist, and it is best to use water that is more warm than cold. The plant can also benefit from frequent fog or nearby humidifier. It needs some kind of support or grid surfaces to grow and should be kept away from pets because the leaves are toxic.