“The one who’s named for paradise and settles for your place.”

Philodendron Xanadu

Philodendron xanadu

Glossy leaves split into 15-20 fingers fan from one center into a dense, jungly mound. Give it a bright spot and elbow room.

Fling

2.7/5

how easy it is to care for

3.8/5

how much it stands out visually

: Shade to filtered

Bright room, out of the sun; fine farther from the window

Its fanned, glossy leaves want a well-lit spot with the sun kept off them; NC State steers it out of direct rays indoors. Set back where the light is softer, it still gets by.

Outdoors, the same plant is grown everywhere from shade (University of Florida) to part or even full sun (NC State), which helps explain why a softer-lit spot doesn’t throw it. Indoors is a different story: NC State keeps it shaded from direct sun.

New leaves rise from the middle of the clump (UF/IFAS Charlotte County), so a plant lit from one side may soon tilt its fresh growth that way; a quarter turn now and then evens out the fan.

Keep it off cold winter glass too, since NC State wants it at 65-75°F. An east window set back from the glass, or the far side of a south- or west-facing room, holds the sun at bay.

: 2-3× a month

Yellow leaves say too wet; aim for every 7-10 days

A drink every 7-10 days in summer and every 10-14 in winter, letting the mix dry a little between. Overwatering is the costly mistake: NC State notes its leaves turn yellow when the soil stays too wet.

Southern Brazil and Paraguay, in the seasonally dry tropics, is where it comes from (Kew), and the University of Florida rates its drought tolerance as moderate: a skipped drink is survivable, while a soggy pot is the bigger risk. NC State pairs a rich, organic mix with good drainage, which suits a plant used to dry spells.

Aim the can at the soil around the stems rather than into the crown, where the leaves gather; NC State names fungal leaf spots among its problems.

It also likes some humidity (NC State). If dry winter air crisps the tips of its many lobes and that bothers you, grouping it with other plants may help. It survives without.

Gone for a while? Two weeks is fine if it’s watered well the day you leave.

: Medium

Lobed leaves, steadily mounding 2-4 feet and wider

A floor plant that grows 2-4 feet tall and spreads wider still, up to 4-6 feet across outdoors, per the University of Florida: tuck it under a low window, or let it split a big open room into two zones.

For a plant with such deeply cut leaves, it keeps a tidy footprint; UF/IFAS Extension calls it compact.

Every new leaf rises from the center of the clump, which widens slowly over the years (UF/IFAS Charlotte County). Underneath, it grows stout, unbranched red stems and large aerial roots (NC State); leave them be. Expect to move it to a bigger pot every 1-2 years (NC State).

Wide rather than tall, it fills the low gaps a skinny plant leaves empty: beneath a wide window, in front of a bare wall, or between two armchairs, where a tree would block the view.

: Mildly irritating

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

DogsMildly irritating
CatsMildly irritating
KidsMildly irritating

A chewed leaf may burn the mouth of a dog, cat, or child, with drooling, swelling, or vomiting. The ASPCA lists philodendrons as toxic to pets for that mouth irritation; NC State rates its severity low.

Some sources mention kidney or nerve effects, mostly in cats, but that isn’t the usual course; a sore mouth is.

Its leaves and stems hold calcium oxalate, the same needle-shaped crystals behind the sting in pothos and dumb cane, released when the plant is chewed or crushed. Its sap can also redden skin and irritate eyes (NC State), so gloves are worth wearing when you trim it (UF/IFAS Extension).

If a pet chews some, one extension service (Texas A&M’s Travis County office) suggests flushing its mouth with water, then offering broth or tuna juice to help wash the crystals away. For a child, a rinse of the mouth with water is a good start, and the sting usually settles on its own. If drooling or trouble swallowing doesn’t settle, or anything worries you, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center can help (a fee may apply) and Poison Control.

A floor-level mound puts many leaves at nose height for a dog and within arm’s reach of a toddler. If yours explore with their mouths, give it a room they rarely roam, and bring it out to the living room once the chewing stage passes.

ASPCA: mild for dogs.
Merck Veterinary Manual: toxic for dogs.
Pet Poison Helpline: mild for dogs.
ASPCA: mild for cats.
Merck Veterinary Manual: toxic for cats.
Pet Poison Helpline: mild for cats.
NC State Extension: mild for kids.

Cats and dogs: Most of the leading sources agree.

Kids: No poison-centre listing; rated from university extension sources.

: Average

65-80°F; average humidity is fine

Happiest at 65-80°F, and it shouldn’t sit below 55°F. Keep it away from cold glass in winter. It likes 60-100% humidity and gets by at 30%.

Temperature: 65-80°F
Humidity: 60-100%

: Pest-resistant

Rarely bothered; peek under leaves and at the crown

Rarely bothered. Spider mites hide on leaf undersides, thrips on leaf surfaces and undersides, scale on petioles, stems and veins, mealybugs at leaf axils and petiole bases, aphids on new leaves in the crown.

Spider mites
Scale
Mealybugs
Banded greenhouse thrips
Aphids

Not many. UF/IFAS calls its pests infrequent; mealybugs, scale, and spider mites are the ones that turn up, and its leaves yellow if the soil stays wet.

Mealybugs look like tufts of white cotton where the leaf stalks meet; scale looks like small brown bumps stuck to the stalks and the undersides 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 a pale, speckled look on the leaves. Rinse the whole plant in the shower, undersides included. Aphids and thrips turn up less often; if anything keeps coming back, an insecticidal soap spray is the next step.

Leaf spot, a fungus, leaves brown spots on the leaves. Cut the worst leaves off at the base and keep water off the leaves when you water.

: Some

Feed 6× spring-summer; trim, wipe, repot every 1-2 years

Feed 6 times across spring and summer. Cut old yellowed outer leaves at the base about 3 times a year, and wipe dust off in spring and fall. Repot into general-purpose potting soil every 1-2 years when crowded.

Feed6× a year
Repot1× a year
Prune3× a year
Clean leaves2× a year

Any general-purpose potting mix, in a pot with a drainage hole. Go wide rather than deep, and heavy enough that the spreading mound doesn’t tip it.

Repot every one to two years, in spring, one pot size up. Lift it by the root ball, not the leaves: the stalks snap.

Food keeps the leaves big: a houseplant fertilizer at half strength, regularly through spring and summer. Too much curls and browns the leaf tips.

: Suave

Glossy green fingers fanning into a dense mound

Each big green leaf is cut into 15-20 deep fingers, giving the plant a lacy, jungly outline. The surface has a gentle gloss, and the fanning leaves pile up thick enough to cover the soil.

Fun fact

It was sold for years before botanists gave it a formal species name in 2002. It grows wild in southern Brazil and Paraguay; the shop plant, once sold as 'Winterbourn', is said to come from Australia.

Designer tips

Tropical and full without the height: a lush, low mound that fills a floor corner or the space beside a chair.

In a wide, low pot on the floor beside a bright window

The trioPlays the low middle in a trio by the windowPut a rubber plant behind for height and a golden pothos trailing from a stool in front, and the Xanadu’s wide, lacy mound fills the middle. All three are mildly irritating if a dog or cat chews them.

The spotFills the low gap beside an armchairIt grows as wide as it’s tall with no trunk, so it fills the awkward floor beside a chair or a low console that a tall plant would overshoot.

The textureRoughs up a sleek, minimal room with deep-⁠cut leavesEvery leaf is cut deep into lobes, so it reads as texture rather than one shape: the softening layer a room of smooth surfaces is missing.

Troubleshooting

The lower leaves are turning yellow

Too much water or too little light, most often; Clemson Extension names both. Longer gaps between drinks and an empty saucer help with the first, a spot nearer the window with the second, and one old outer leaf yellowing now and then is normal.

Why are the leaf tips brown and curling?

Usually too much fertilizer. Watering the pot through a couple of times rinses the extra out; after that, feed less often and at half strength. The brown tips stay brown, but new leaves usually come in clean.

A leaf stalk snapped

That leaf won’t heal, so cut it off at the base. The long stalks are brittle and a knock from a vacuum or a pet is enough; new leaves keep coming from the center and usually fill the gap.

See all 8

Can it live away from the window?

Across the room from a window, yes, though it grows slower and new leaves come in smaller and paler. A room with no window is too dark for it.

My dog chewed a leaf

It’s mildly irritating: expect a sore mouth, drooling, pawing at its face, and maybe some vomiting from the calcium-oxalate crystals, and NC State rates the severity low. If vomiting keeps up or swallowing looks hard, call your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center.

I’m bringing it home in winter

Wrap it for the trip: UF/IFAS finds a few hours near freezing can yellow a philodendron’s lower leaves. At home, a spot off the cold window glass suits it.

Can it go outside for the summer?

Yes, in shade or gentle morning sun, like a porch or under a tree. Bring it in before fall nights turn cold, since it wants to stay above 55°F, and check it for bugs first.

Is it a philodendron or a Thaumatophyllum?

A philodendron. Botanists moved it to Thaumatophyllum in 2018, but Kew’s Plants of the World Online now accepts Philodendron xanadu, so you’ll see both names on tags; the care is the same either way.

Propagation

Only by division, and only once it’s crowded: growers start new ones from tissue culture, not cuttings, since it has no stem to cut.

When you repot a big clump that has made side shoots, cut it into pieces, each with its own roots and a few leaves, and pot each one at the depth it grew before.
Wear gloves for the sap.