Thaumatophyllum xanadu/ Xanandu

This beautiful plant’s entry into the world of horticulture is full of mystery and secrets! It was the year 1983 when it suddenly emerged in a nursery in Western Australia. It began to be proliferated as a natural hybrid with Philodendron bipinnatifidum thought of as one of the parents. Going under the market names ‘Showboat’ and then ‘Xanadu.’

While it was being trademarked in America and getting released as Australia’s Plant of the Year and climbing the charts of houseplant popularity, a few ardent botanists discovered that this was no accidental hybrid or cultivar but a very naturally occurring species from the Brazilian forests that escaped into Australia somehow.

Ah well, what do we care! What matters is that the Xanadu is a handsome-leaved houseplant with very attractive crown-shape and has adapted nicely to indoor conditions in our homes in India.