Species · genus Rhaphidophora · Araceae

Creeping Philodendron

Rhaphidophora decursiva (Roxb.) Schott

Also known as: Dragon Tail Plant

Growth habit

climber

Native range

Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China South-Central, China Southeast, East Himalaya, Hainan, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicobar Is., Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam, West Himalaya

Rhaphidophora decursiva — reference photo — Chhe at English Wikipedia · Public domain

Cultivars of R. decursiva

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under R. decursiva yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

A Climbing Aroid

Rhaphidophora decursiva is a climbing member of the arum family, Araceae, first described from specimens collected under the genus Pothos before being placed here by Schott. Gardeners in Britain know it too by its common name, down-curved raphidophora.

Source: Kew

Native Range

This climber traces its natural range from the Indian Subcontinent across to South China and Indo-China, taking in places such as Assam, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Himalayan foothills. In the wild it grows within the wet tropical biome, scrambling upward in humid forest conditions typical of that belt.

Source: Kew

A Climbing Habit

True to its Araceae roots, this plant grows as a climber rather than a freestanding shrub, a habit shared with better-known aroid vines. Its species name, decursiva, and the synonym history under Monstera and Scindapsus hint at a family resemblance to those familiar climbing houseplants.

Source: Kew

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-12d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 12 days

Humidity

High

Temperature

18–29 °C

Soil mix

Chunky, well-draining aroid mix

Propagation

Stem cuttings rooted at a node

Fertilizing

Balanced liquid feed monthly in the growing season

Growth rate

Fast

Flowering

Rarely flowers indoors

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs & humans

Araceae typically contain insoluble calcium oxalate crystals that irritate mouth and digestive tract This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

Chhe at English Wikipedia · Public domain

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-12d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (family inference)

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Creeping Philodendron yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — and a clear photo of your plant are exactly what keep this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.