...and over here we call the plant a Delicious Monster.
Until I had a look on Wikipedia, I didn't know that one can eat its fruits.
I saw the plants in a church yard, and they have always fascinated me. Why, I do not know, but somehow I knew there was something special about them. And now I know what it is, as it is their fruit. I will let Wikipedia tell you below what is special about their fruits. For now, I just want you to have a look at the pictures, and I am sure that many of you also know the plants, as apparently they are spread far and wide over the world.
How about adding a bit of color to the show with this Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly that landed on some nearby Periwinkle flowers.
In the picture below, I show what the green fruit of the plant looks like.
The fruit of Monstera deliciosa is up to 25 cm (10 in) long and 3–5 cm (1.2–2.0 in) diameter, and it looks like a green ear of maize covered with hexagonal scales. As the fruit ripens, these scales or platelets fall off the fruit, releasing a strong and sweet scent. The smell has been compared to a combination of pineapples and bananas. The fruit is edible and safe for humans.
It takes longer than a year for fruits to reach maturity. The fruit first shows signs of ripening by the yellowing of its lowest scales. As it ripens, the starch that was stored in the green fruit is converted to sugar, giving it its sweet flavor. This mechanism is comparable to how banana fruits ripen. The strong odor the fruit produces becomes noticeable when it is half-ripe. As time passes and the fruit continues to ripen, the odor becomes stronger. After it becomes fully ripe, however, the scent deteriorates quickly.
Another medical feature, of the plant, also amazed me.
The aerial roots have been used as ropes in Peru, and to make baskets in Mexico. In Martinique, the root is used to make a traditional medicine for snakebites. In Mexico, it is used as traditional medicine for the relief of arthritis symptoms.
You can see that there were a lot of the plants in this flowerbed.
Here below are two shots of the same plant in a sunspot of the flowerbed.
And I finish the post with the butterfly.
Always so great to discover something new in nature. In this case I have seen these delicious monsters many times, and I might even have done a post in the past, but now I know more about them and as they say, one is never too old to learn. Nature has so many secrets, and I think that the people of old had more medical uses for the plants because they didn't have the wonderful and fast information systems that we have nowadays. The Khoi-San, long ago, were far ahead of their time when it came to the discovery of the medicinal uses of many plants, including their roots, and even the bark of certain trees.
Such is life.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
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