Syngonium podophyllum
The most widespread and variable Syngonium, found from eastern Mexico through Central America to the Guianas, Brazil and Bolivia. It is a hemiepiphytic vine of lowland moist forest. It starts as an arrowhead-leaved creeper on the shaded forest floor, then climbs trunks and makes large, deeply divided adult leaves. It is easy to grow if kept warm, evenly moist and in bright shade, and it has no true dormancy.
Where it grows wild
Croat's revision of Syngonium places it mainly in tropical moist forest, and in Central America also in premontane wet forest. It is replaced by S. macrophyllum in the wettest lowland life zones. It occupies a wide range of habitats, including forest edges, secondary growth and disturbed sites. Juvenile shoots creep over the ground and low trunks in shade. Adult stems climb high into trees, where the leaves become larger and split into 5–11 leaflets.
Sea level to usually under 1000 m according to Croat (1981). It is most abundant below 750 m, especially at 100–500 m. Wild GBIF records have a median of 595 m but reach 2600 m, well above the botanical range; see data disagreements.
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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. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 3.0 licence, unmodified.