The first time I decided to adopt a Monstera plant, was on a sunny noon in August of 2021. He was in a poor shape, only three leaves on his stem and had root rot from excessive watering. I was determined to adopt him. Now, that to a plant parent is a hard pass. Yet I chose him in the hopes that I could bring him back to life, and I did. I have named him Hope and Hope will be 5 year old boy this year. Ever since I encountered hope, learning about him and his family, is so fascinating to me. I have developed a queer liking towards the plant species Monstera. Such a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (great) creation of the plant kingdom, that I get to learn from.

It sounds hysterical, how botanist try name the plants. They see the physical features of it and call it out in a languages that is not English. The name Monstera deliciousa, literally means the delicious monster in English. It is called, delicious because it’s fruit tastes like a combination of banana, pineapple and mango and it is called a monster because it looks abnormal. These beautiful plants are climbers, and are native to tropical rainforests.

The reason they look abnormal is because of the holes and the slits these plants develop on their leaves. It is called Fenestration. Fenestration in Latin translates to window in English. No other species is capable of developing it except its close relative, the money plant. The major reason why they develop slits is to let light pass by the younger leaves and to grace the older leaves at the bottom.

I idolize nature so much, so that I take my lessons from them. Only if the younger leaves in the plant decided to be selfish and not slit themselves apart for the older ones, the monstera species wouldn’t exist. The Monstera species teaches us that “ You will thrive better, when you stop being selfish”. Oh, what a great teacher the Nature is and I would forever be a curious kid on her lap.