Where the site conditions and care combine to form a perfect overall package for a philodendron, it gives its gardener one or more flowers. If the pollen is transferred from the female to the male flowers by manual pollination, an elongated, green fruit develops. Find out whether you can eat these here.
Can you eat the Philodendron fruit?
The Philodendron fruit is not suitable for consumption because its pulp contains toxic oxalic acid and calcium oxalate needle crystals. These can cause swelling in the mouth and throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. However, the fruits of the Monstera deliciosa, also known as “delicious window leaf”, are edible.
Eating Philodendron fruits is risky
If you sniff the flower of a philodendron, you should lose your appetite for the fruit that will follow later. Popular species, such as Philodendron bipinnatifidum, heat the closed flowers up to 38 degrees Celsius. As a result, they give off a carrion-like stench that is said to attract pollinators in the wild. Other reasons speak against eating the fruit:
- The pulp underneath the peel contains large amounts of toxic oxalic acid
- Calcium oxalate needle crystals cause the mucous membranes in the mouth and throat to swell
- Hot substances cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea
Provided your fruiting tree friend is out of the reach of children and uninformed adults, the cucumber-like fruits with their exotic appearance at least increase the decorative value of the plant for many weeks.
Pseudo-philodendron produces edible fruits
Within the Araceae family, botanists list another genus alongside Philodendron that, at first glance, looks confusingly similar to the tree friend. Monsteras are therefore often sold commercially under the name Philodendron. This poses a potential danger, because you can eat the window leaf fruit:
- Monstera deliciosa produces edible fruits
- The flesh is banana-soft and tastes like pineapple
Due to its edible fruits, the Monstera deliciosa is also known as the delicious window leaf. However, you can only eat these fruits when they are fully ripe. Only when the green, hard peel can be removed does the pulp offer carefree enjoyment. All other plant parts of a Monstera are just as poisonous as the leaves, flowers and fruits of the tree friend.
Tip
Whenever you cut plant parts on your tree friend, please wear gloves and long-sleeved clothing. Contact with the toxic milky sap can trigger immediate allergic reactions. As a team of researchers at the University of Zurich discovered through skin prick testing, the toxins cause itching, swelling and, in the worst case, an allergy.
