Plants and Food
(If you wish to act on any of the information on this website, you must consult with a healthcare professional. Do not try to be your own doctor)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
We can no longer use this planet as an ATM machine. Our account is overdrawn.
If our next step is not guided by nature, nature will take her next step upon us.
Monstera spp.
PLANT NAME: Monstera spp.
SIMILARLY USED SPECIES: M. adansonii (syn. M. pertusa); M. deliciosa (syn. Philodendron pertusum); M. dilacerata; M. epipremnoides.(syns M. schleichtleinii, M leichtleinii ); M. friedrichsthalii; M. irritans; M. pertusa
COMMON NAMES: Swiss Cheese Plant, Fruit Salad Plant, Ceriman, Windowleaf [English];
Siparuna [Panama]; Pasmo, Piñanona [Spanish]
FAMILY: Araceae (Taro family)
PROPERTIES: Bland, astringent, neutral.
STATUS IN HAWAI'I: Alien. Minimal pest factor
WESTERN FUNCTIONS: Anti-inflammatory [China], fibrinolytic [China]
TRADITIONAL CHINESE ENERGETIC FUNCTIONS (~ = extrapolated):
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MEDICINAL USES
INFECTION
Mashed, decocted, and rubbed on boils [General]; boils [Bolivia (heated leaves poulticed)]
Fever [China]
MUSCULOSKELETAL / TRAUMA
Snake bite [Antilles (topical and as a charm)]
To cauterize wounds and for leg pain [Bolivia (heated leaves poulticed)]; trauma, bruises [China (poulticed and internal
RESPIRATORY
Cough [China]
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
USE AS FOOD:
Monstera has been grown commercially in Florida
Made into drinks and ices, and put in fruit salads.
In Europe Monstera has been used to flavor champagne.
PLANT PART USED: Whole plant. Fruit as food.
CONSTITUENTS: Calcium oxalate, acrid and caustic raphides
TOXICITY:
CAUTIONS AND CONTRAINDICATIONS: Calcium oxalate crystals! Acrid and caustic raphides! Eat only when ripe. (If you take a bite out of the unripe fruit you'll regret it)
All species contain a caustic sap which causes blistering. Can cause hives.
PREPARATION OF MEDICINE: Boil well!
DOSAGE: 15 - 30 grams in decoction
COMBINATIONS: None noted
RANGE: Tropical America and West Indies
HABITAT: Gardens
NOTES 'N QUOTES: There are 50 different species of Monstera.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Much of this information is through the grace oand kindness of my
Hawaiian and Chinese teachers and my gratitude goes out to
them. Any errors are mine alone.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx