Shoutout to the guy at the plant swap who called my Monstera a 'cool philodendron'

I was at the swap meet in Springfield last weekend, and this nice man kept admiring my plant but got the name totally wrong (it happens a lot, honestly). I gently corrected him, saying it's a Monstera deliciosa, which led to a funny five-minute chat about split leaves versus heart-shaped ones. How do you all politely handle it when someone mistakes one of your favorite plants for something else?

4 comments

4 Comments

emmam893mo ago

My neighbor Linda still calls my pothos a philodendron after three years of living next door. I gave up correcting her and now we just talk about how fast the vines grow on her kitchen shelf. Sometimes the wrong name leads to a better chat about care tips anyway.

marydavis3mo ago

Monsteras have holes, philodendrons don't.

the_drew1mo ago

Ugh but wait - what about split leaf philodendrons though? I see people call those monsters all the time at my local nursery but they're actually Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum now which is a whole different thing. Is the hole rule really that solid or are we just being gatekeepers about plant IDs?

thomas_sanchez3mo ago

At the Denver show I just say "close, it's actually a Monstera" and show them the leaf holes.