Parlor palm vs Swiss cheese plant

Chamaedorea elegans · Monstera deliciosa

Pet safety: Parlor palm is listed non-toxic to cats and dogs; Swiss cheese plant is toxic (insoluble calcium oxalates). If the two are sold under the same name, a mislabelled plant is a genuine risk in a house with animals.

Why these two get mixed up

Swiss cheese plant is recorded here as a pet-safe alternative to Parlor palm, so the question is usually whether the swap is actually a fair one.

Parlor palm (Chamaedorea elegans) — **Parlor palm** — Chamaedorea elegans. Photograph by Tequila 13:54, 24 June 2007 (UTC), Wikimedia Commons , CC BY-SA 3.0.

Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa) — **Swiss cheese plant** — Monstera deliciosa. Photograph by Wikimedia Commons contributor, Wikimedia Commons , CC BY-SA 3.0.

	Parlor palm	Swiss cheese plant
Scientific name	Chamaedorea elegans	Monstera deliciosa
Family	Arecaceae	Araceae
Light floor	Low	Medium
Water	7–10 days	7–10 days
Humidity floor	40%	40%
Mature height	24–48 in	72–120 in
Habit	clumping	climbing
Growth rate	slow	fast
Difficulty	Easy	Easy
Toxic to pets	No	Yes
Typical price	$20–50	$20–60

Highlighted cells are where the two actually differ. Everything else they share.

The differences that matter

Pet safety

This is the difference that matters most. Parlor palm is listed non-toxic to cats and dogs; Swiss cheese plant is toxic (insoluble calcium oxalates). If the two are sold under the same name, a mislabelled plant is a genuine risk in a house with animals.

Mature size

Swiss cheese plant reaches about 120 inches; Parlor palm tops out near 48. Buying the wrong one for a shelf means rehoming it in a year.

Light

Parlor palm tolerates low light; Swiss cheese plant needs medium as a floor. Put the second in the first's spot and it stretches and declines.

Habit

Parlor palm grows clumping; Swiss cheese plant grows climbing. That decides where each one physically works.

Not even related

Parlor palm is Arecaceae, Swiss cheese plant is Araceae. They share a shop label and nothing else — different families, different continents, different care.

Which should you buy?

With a cat or dog in the house, take Parlor palm. The other is toxic, and if the shop label is wrong you will not know which you have brought home.
In a dim room, take Parlor palm.
If you forget to water, take Swiss cheese plant, which goes 9 days between drinks.
If it is your first plant, take either — both score 2 of 5.
For a small shelf, take Parlor palm, which stops around 48 inches.

Full entries

Parlor palm — care fields with sources, toxicity with every authority consulted, propagation and diagnosis. Swiss cheese plant — the same.

Sources

This database's own care records for Chamaedorea elegans and Monstera deliciosa — every figure compared above.
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Plants of the World Online — accepted names and families for Chamaedorea elegans and Monstera deliciosa
ASPCA Animal Poison Control — toxicity classification for both, cited on each species entry
Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, individually credited and licensed above

Compiled and edited by Tony Valcarcel · 2026-09-12
Every comparison above is drawn from a recorded field. Where the honest distinguisher is visual we show both photographs rather than describing a leaf we have no field for. How this is sourced.