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Philodendron bipinnatifidum Schott ex Kunth, 1841

Araceae

Climate known Photographs not checked Tropical foliage plant
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Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Philodendron bipinnatifidum, synonyms including Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum and Philodendron selloanum, is a plant in the genus Philodendron, in the family Araceae. The species is native to South America, namely to Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, and Paraguay, but is also cultivated as a landscape plant in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate climates.

Text from Wikipedia, “Philodendron bipinnatifidum”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Philodendron

Philodendron is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. As of September 2025, the Plants of the World Online accepted 625 species; other sources accept different numbers. Regardless of number of species, the genus is the second-largest member of the family Araceae, after genus Anthurium. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Philodendron”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Araceae
Described by
Schott ex Kunth, 1841
Native to
Bolivia, Brazil Southeast, Brazil South +2
Wild records
8 in range· 7 open

At a glance

Warmest month
29°C
Oct, mean day; nights 19 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1404mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Dec 239 mm (CHELSA)
Light
25–38DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Grouped as a tropical foliage plant by the genus Philodendron, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). Rain rule: a summer growing season, April to September in the northern hemisphere (October to March at the habitat, southern). Habitat rain 1404 mm a year, wettest December at 239 mm, driest July at 30 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 25 to 38 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 12 °C (archetype minimum for a tropical foliage plant, above the 9.7 °C habitat night).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Cultivation

Grouped as a tropical foliage plant by the genus Philodendron, which is reliably one kind of plant (archetype table). The table supplies one figure for this group, a conventional minimum for the cold floor, and no prose.

Its year Rain rule: a summer growing season, April to September in the northern hemisphere (October to March at the habitat, southern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the year's rain (1068 mm of 1404 mm) falls in October to March, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 23.9 °C against a yearly mean of 22.1 °C). Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: April to September.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1404 mm a year, wettest December at 239 mm, driest July at 30 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1404 mm a year at the habitat, 1068 mm of it October to March. Wettest month December at 239 mm, driest July at 30 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 1085 mm to 1849 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 25 to 38 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 25 to 38 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 18, the highest 90th-percentile month 41).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 12 °C (archetype minimum for a tropical foliage plant, above the 9.7 °C habitat night).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 9.7 °C, the absolute minimum 6.1 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 32.5 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 13.8 °C in July (across the envelope cells 12.5 °C to 16.7 °C), warmest day 28.7 °C in October (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 12 °C. The habitat figure, the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER), is 9.7 °C; the archetype table's conventional minimum for a tropical foliage plant (grouped by the genus Philodendron, which is reliably one kind of plant) is 12 °C, which is higher, and the floor rule takes the higher.

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence, and the archetype table's group minimum where that is higher. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 57 to 63% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 23 °C in Jul to 29 °C in Oct; mean night from 14 °C in Jul to 20 °C in Feb. The cold quarter, Jun to Aug, is the three months around the coldest night. 1404 mm of rain a year, most in Dec. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 8 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 6.1 °C and the 99th-percentile day 32.5 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°15°20°25°30°35°32.5° 99th-percentile day (undated)6.1° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200250300mm rainDLI 25–38RH 57–63 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 8 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C28 / 26–3029 / 27–3028 / 26–2927 / 25–2825 / 22–2824 / 21–2723 / 21–2726 / 22–2928 / 23–3129 / 24–3128 / 25–2928 / 26–30
Night °C20 / 19–2220 / 19–2220 / 18–2119 / 17–2016 / 15–1914 / 13–1714 / 13–1715 / 13–1817 / 15–1919 / 16–2119 / 17–2120 / 18–22
Rain mm192 / 166–267154 / 119–217169 / 131–22496 / 59–16765 / 11–16935 / 4–13130 / 2–10034 / 5–9476 / 17–147128 / 92–209186 / 163–230239 / 187–296
DLI37 / 34–4038 / 34–3934 / 32–3529 / 26–3426 / 21–3125 / 18–3026 / 20–3131 / 26–3633 / 29–4036 / 32–4036 / 34–4035 / 32–41
RH %62 / 60–7163 / 59–7063 / 60–7063 / 58–6963 / 54–6662 / 52–6559 / 51–6457 / 49–6458 / 48–6661 / 52–6761 / 59–6962 / 60–71

Each figure is the median across the 8 grid cells holding the 8 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 2198:2788 (-19.925, -40.575). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 6.1 °C, 1st-percentile night 9.7 °C, 99th-percentile day 32.5 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 8 distinct grid cells holding the 8 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2198:2788 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -20.00_-40.625, lapse-corrected +356 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 767 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeBolivia, Brazil Southeast, Brazil South, Argentina Northeast, Paraguay· introduced: Bangladesh, Belize
Kew's description“scrambling shrub” · “seasonally dry tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker-14.717, -44.732 · in the densest population, 5 records (63% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 8 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 7 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 59 km away. 28 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. Under a dozen records: treat the map and the climate as indicative.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 8 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Philodendron bipinnatifidum, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Pollination and floral scent differentiation in species of the Philodendron bipinnatifidum complex (Araceae)
Gerhard Gottsberger, Ilse Silberbauer-Gottsberger, Stefan Dötterl (2013) · Plant Systematics and Evolution
In the heat of the night – alternative pathway respiration drives thermogenesis in Philodendron bipinnatifidum
Rebecca E. Miller, Nicole M. Grant, Larry Giles, Miquel Ribas‐Carbó (2010) · New Phytologist
Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of Philodendron bipinnatifidum Schott ex Endl (Araceae)
Jaqueline Scapinello, Liz Girardi Müller, Monica Santin Zanatta Schindler, Gabriela Sabrina Anzollin (2019) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
Management of Fruit Species in Urban Home Gardens of Argentina Atlantic Forest as an Influence for Landscape Domestication
Violeta Furlan, María Lelia Pochettino, Norma I. Hilgert (2017) · Frontiers in Plant Science
Micropropagation of Lacy Tree Philodendron (Philodendron bipinnatifidum Schott ex Endl.)
Asma Alhussein Alawaadh, Yaser Hassan Dewir, Mona S. Alwihibi, Abdulhakim A. Aldubai (2020) · HortScience
Extraction of bioactive compounds from Philodendron bipinnatifidum Schott ex Endl and encapsulation in PHBV by SEDS technique
Jaqueline Scapinello, Gean Pablo S. Aguiar, Camila Dal Magro, Ana Paula Capelezzo (2018) · Industrial Crops and Products
Chemical Characterization and Application of the Essential Oils from Chenopodium ambrosioides and Philodendron bipinnatifidum in the Control of Diabrotica speciosa (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)
Juliana de Andrade Santiago, María das Graças Cardoso, A. Cristina Figueiredo, Jair Campos Moraes (2014) · American Journal of Plant Sciences
Analyzing Preferred Indoor Ornamental Potted Plants for Their Air Pollution Tolerance Ability
Shivani Chauhan, Kumari Manisha, Bhavya Bhargava, Kishor Chandra Kandpal (2022) · Polish Journal of Environmental Studies
The selective florivory of E rioscelis emarginata matches its role as a pollinator of P hilodendron
Marina Maldonado, Cássia Mônica Sakuragui, José Roberto Trigo, Daniela Rodrigues (2015) · Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata
Anatomia da raiz escora de Philodendron bipinnatifidum Schott (Araceae)
Wânia de Oliveira Vianna, Marli Kasue Misaki Soares, Beatriz Appezzato‐da‐Glória (2001) · Acta Botanica Brasilica

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Philodendron 5 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media did not answerapi.gbif.org not asked: offline re-derivation
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 22 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.