Philodendron 'Xanadu'

Xanadu is a compact, dwarf relative of the much larger Tree Philodendron ('Selloum'), selected specifically for its manageable size, reaching only around a metre across even at maturity, compared to Selloum's several metres. It forms a dense, self-heading mound with no climbing stem at all, sending out deeply lobed, glossy dark green leaves from a slowly thickening central crown. Its compact size, tolerance of low light, and undemanding care have made it one of the most widely planted landscape and interior-scape aroids worldwide, equally at home in a shopping-centre atrium or a garden border in frost-free climates.

Native range

Horticultural selection developed in Australia from Brazilian Philodendron bipinnatifidum-type seedlings; now reclassified with Selloum into the genus Thaumatophyllum, though still sold almost universally under the Philodendron trade name.

Classification

Genus

Philodendron

Family

Araceae

Type

Cultivar

Growth habit

Self-heading, non-climbing, dense mound

Morphology

Leaf shape

Deeply pinnately lobed, arrow-shaped in outline

Leaf length

30-50 cm

Leaf width

25-40 cm

Petiole colour

Green

Venation

PinnateVeins or lobes arranged like a feather, branching out symmetrically on both sides of a single main central vein., prominent

Texture

Glossy, leathery

Variegation

N/A

Growth habit

Dense self-heading mound, no climbing stem