Monstera juliusii
A robust climbing Monstera from the cloud forests of the Cordillera de Talamanca in Costa Rica and western Panama, described in 2020 by Cedeño and Croat. Adults have thick, leathery, pinnately lobed leaves up to about 60 cm long with rows of holes, on white-mottled petioles, which separates it from the similar M. standleyana. It is a cool-growing highland aroid, so it wants mild days, cool nights and constant moisture rather than lowland heat.
Where it grows wild
Premontane and lower montane rain forest, including oak, Podocarpus and laurel forest with a bamboo (Chusquea) understory. It is a nomadic, appressed-climbing vine: seedlings grow along the ground, juveniles climb tree trunks with small ovate leaves held close to the bark, and adults climb higher into brighter light and produce the large fenestrated leaves.
Recorded at about 1,600–2,250 m; the species description gives 1,650–2,010 m and one collection is from 2,250 m on Cerro Frantzius.
🔒 Growing it like that
The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:
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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app.