“The one who manspreads and you don’t mind it.”

Philodendron Selloum

Philodendron bipinnatifidum

Huge leaves cut like paper snowflakes, each on a long stalk of its own. Pure drama, given room to spread and a steady routine.

Fling

2.6/5

how easy it is to care for

4.4/5

how much it stands out visually

: Dim to filtered

Loves a sunny window behind a sheer; shade shrinks leaves

It copes with shade, but its leaves come in smaller and with fewer lobes. A sunny window softened by a sheer curtain keeps them large, deeply cut, and richly green.

Florida growers give it more sun than its cousins: the University of Florida’s production guide puts the other philodendrons it covers under heavy shade, and lists this one for high-light interior use.

Kew describes it as a scrambling shrub of the seasonally dry tropics, while most philodendrons climb tree trunks (UConn Extension). A shrub of open, seasonally dry country may simply be used to more light than a vine in the understory.

There’s a limit at the sunny end too. Bleached or scorched patches mean sun reached its leaves without the sheer, so pull it back from the glass or soften the window again (NC State, RHS).

Of the philodendrons, it’s the one that asks for the window seat.

: 2-3× a month

Likes a drink every 7-10 days; neither drought nor bog

Water every 7-10 days in summer and every 10-14 in winter, after the upper soil has started to dry. It takes neither a long drought nor soggy soil well, so a steady rhythm keeps it happiest.

It doesn’t tolerate salt buildup (NC State), so flush out the salts that fertilizer and tap water leave in the soil regularly, with a long rinse in a tub or shower, or water it with distilled water instead. Once an old plant’s pot is too wide and heavy to carry, a slow, generous pour where it stands, over a saucer big enough to catch the extra, does the same job.

It’s the cold-resistant philodendron (UF), but indoors it still likes winter above 60°F (MBG). A plant this broad often ends up with a leaf or two pressed against a window, so in winter give the glass a little room.

Gone for a while? Two weeks is fine if it gets a good soak the day you leave.

: Large

Huge cut leaves, steadily mounding wider than tall

Huge, deeply cut leaves fan out on long stalks from one crown, steadily mounding 3-5 feet tall and wider. With age it can lean on a short trunk and send out thick roots, so give it open floor where the spread can show.

Each leaf rises from the crown on a stalk of its own, and as the oldest yellow and fall, they leave prominent scars on a stout green stem (NC State).

With every leaf coming from that single crown, it has no front or back: it looks the same from all sides, so it can stand out from the wall, in the middle of a wide landing or between two chairs. Clemson calls the full-size plant too large for most homes; in a smaller room, 'Xanadu' is a compact form that tops out around 3 feet.

: Mildly irritating

Chewing can sting the mouths of dogs, cats, or kids

DogsMildly irritating
CatsMildly irritating
KidsMildly irritating

A chewed leaf may sting a pet’s or child’s mouth and bring on drooling or vomiting. The ASPCA lists lacy tree philodendron as toxic to dogs and cats, and NC State rates it low severity.

Some sources say kidney or nerve effects are possible, mostly in cats; they aren’t the usual course.

The sting comes from calcium oxalate, carried in the plant as microscopic crystals that irritate the mouth once a leaf is bitten (ASPCA). The usual course is a sore, swollen mouth, drooling, and sometimes vomiting or trouble swallowing, and it passes on its own. Rarely, the throat swells enough to make breathing hard (Pet Poison Helpline); that one sign is worth acting on right away. If symptoms don’t settle, or anything worries you, Poison Control can help with a child, and the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center can help with a pet (a fee may apply).

In its home range, Kew notes, it has been put to use as both a poison and a medicine.

Unlike a vine you can hang out of reach, this one lives on the floor, its leaves at a toddler’s or a Lab’s eye level. If yours is a chewer, give it a room they rarely visit. Its sap can irritate skin (NC State), so pull on gloves before cutting off an old leaf.

ASPCA: mild for dogs.
Merck Veterinary Manual: mild for dogs (rates the whole genus).
Pet Poison Helpline: mild for dogs.
ASPCA: mild for cats.
Merck Veterinary Manual: mild for cats (rates the whole genus).
Pet Poison Helpline: mild for cats.
Poison Control: mild for kids.

Cats and dogs: Most of the leading sources agree.

Kids: Poison Control lists it; the effect is mouth pain from oxalate crystals.

: Dry OK

70-80°F; average humidity is fine

Happiest at 70-80°F, and it shouldn’t sit below 60°F. Keep it away from cold glass in winter. Humidity can drop to 25% without trouble.

Temperature: 70-80°F

: Pest-resistant

Rarely bothered; check leaf undersides and stalk bases

Rarely bothered. Scale hides on stems, stalks, and along leaf veins, and mealybugs in leaf axils and stalk bases. Spider mites and thrips favor leaf undersides, and aphids go for new unfurling leaves and tips.

Scale
Spider mites
Mealybugs
Aphids
Banded greenhouse thrips

Not many, and rarely serious. NC State names aphids, mealybugs, scale, thrips, and spider mites as occasional problems, and root rot if the soil stays soggy.

Mealybugs look like tufts of white cotton where the leaf stalks meet the plant; scale looks like small brown bumps stuck to the stalks and the backs of the leaves. Wipe them off with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol (a fingernail lifts scale), then check again next week.

Spider mites leave fine webbing and pale speckles, mostly in warm, dry air; thrips leave a silvery, speckled look; aphids are small, soft bugs clustered on new growth. Wipe both sides of each leaf with a damp cloth, or hose the plant down outside in summer. If anything keeps coming back, an insecticidal soap spray is the next step.

Root rot shows as yellowing lower leaves and wilting while the soil is still wet. Let the top of the soil dry between soaks (7-10 days in most rooms), empty the saucer, and water less often from then on.

: More

Wipe leaves 6× a year, feed monthly in spring-⁠summer

Wipe the big leaves about 6 times a year, and feed monthly in spring and summer while it grows. Flush the soil twice a year, as it dislikes salts. In spring, prune old leaves and repot; stake a leaning stem as needed.

Feed6× a year
Flush salts2× a year
Prune1× a year
Clean leaves6× a year
Stake1× a year
Repot1× a year

A heavy, wide pot with a drainage hole and a rich potting mix that drains fast. The weight keeps a big plant from tipping as it leans.

Repot when the roots crowd the pot, or when the soil dries out within days of a soak, one pot size up, in spring or summer. The University of Arkansas’s horticulturist stops at a 12-inch pot, since anything bigger makes this heavy plant nearly impossible to move.

Food helps a big plant but isn’t a must: a balanced houseplant fertilizer, at half strength, once or twice a month in spring and summer. Too much browns and curls the leaf tips. After a move, hold off for about a month while it settles in (UF/IFAS).

: Suave

Huge, deeply lobed green leaves with a gentle gloss, filling the pot

Each big green leaf is cut deep into lobes, like a paper snowflake, and rides on its own long stalk. The surface has a slight sheen, and the leaves overlap so thickly that the soil disappears.

Fun fact

Its rare bloom is a purplish-red hood, about a foot long, wrapped around a white spike, and indoors it can take 10-15 years to show up.

Designer tips

Big, glossy, and deeply cut, it brings the jungle into a room in a single plant.

On the floor beside a bright window, leaves spreading wide

The statementDivides a studio apartment better than a bookcaseThree to five feet tall and often wider, it screens a bed or a desk from the rest of the room while light still gets through between the leaves. Keep it on the window side of the divide.

Light and shadowThrows finger-cut shadows across the wall at nightDeep-cut leaves on long stalks make some of the boldest shadows any houseplant can, especially from an uplight set on the floor beneath. It’s a second, bigger plant drawn on the wall.

The styleAnchors a bohemian room of rattan, pattern, and layersA bohemian room layers plants at every height with natural fibers and pattern, and the selloum sets the scale for all of it from the floor. Build the smaller plants up around it.

The moodMakes a Chicago February feel a few degrees warmerHuge, glossy, deep-cut leaves are pure tropics, and one plant is enough to change the feel of a winter room. Keep it out of cold drafts so the feeling holds.

Troubleshooting

Lower leaves are turning yellow

Usually too much water or too little light (Clemson Extension). If the soil is still wet days after a soak, water less often and empty the saucer; otherwise a spot nearer the window helps, and a cold draft off frosty glass can do it too.

New leaves are small, with no splits

Not enough light, or too much water (NC State Extension). A young plant’s leaves are wavy-edged rather than deeply cut, so a small one needs time; on a grown plant, small, uncut leaves usually mean it wants a brighter spot.

Why are the leaf tips brown and curled?

Most often too much fertilizer (Clemson Extension), or salts building up in the soil, which it doesn’t tolerate (NC State Extension). A long rinse through the pot flushes them, then feed less; trim the brown bits if they bother you.

See all 9

My cat chewed a leaf

Expect a sore mouth: drooling, pawing at its face, maybe vomiting, from calcium-oxalate crystals in the sap. It’s mildly irritating and usually passes; if your cat keeps vomiting, struggles to swallow or seems unwell, call your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center.

A leaf stalk snapped

That leaf is done, but the plant is fine. Cut the stalk cleanly near the trunk, and new leaves keep coming from the center; the long stalks are brittle (Clemson Extension), so a spot out of doorways and busy paths spares them.

Why is it leaning and sprawling?

That’s how it grows: with age the trunk reclines and creeps, and the whole plant leans toward its window. A turn now and then evens it up, and a wide, heavy pot keeps it from tipping.

What are the long brown roots coming out of the trunk?

Aerial roots, and they’re normal: in the wild they prop up the heavy trunk and take in water. Guide them down into the pot, or leave them be.

Can it go outside for the summer?

Yes, and it likes a shady patio. Full sun scorches the leaves, and it’s best back inside before fall nights drop below 60°F; check it for bugs on the way in.

Will it flower?

Rarely indoors: NC State says a plant can take 10-15 years to bloom inside, if it ever does. The flower is a spike of tiny white, petal-less flowers, and there’s nothing to do either way.

Propagation

Yes, from the pups (offsets) that come up around the base: that’s the easy way to a second plant.

When you repot, in spring or summer, cut or pull away a pup that has its own roots and pot it up at the same depth.
A tall, leaning plant can also be restarted from its top: cut off the tip with a couple of leaves and some aerial roots, and pot it in a big pot, where it roots.