Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa) flower spike. This rainforest vine is found throughout Central America. It is also known as fruit salad plant,

---

Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa) flower spike. This rainforest vine is found throughout Central America. It is also known as fruit salad plant, monster fruit, Mexican breadfruit and Monstereo. The flower spike consists of a bract (spathe) surrounding a spadix. The spadix is the fleshy upright spike with tiny flowers (male flowers on the top, female flowers on the bottom). The flesh of the ripe fruit is creamy and pulpy, and smells like cheese but tastes like a fruit salad. Photographed in Carara National Park, Costa Rica.

---

Size: 3423px × 5130px
Photo credit: © GEORGETTE DOUWMA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -, 1, america, american, biological, biology, botanical, botany, bract, breadfruit, carara, central, cheese, costa, deliciosa, flora, flower, fruit, inflorescence, mexican, monstera, monstereo, national, nature, park, plant, rainforest, rica, salad, single, spadix, spathe, spike, swiss, tropical, tropics, vine