Monstera deliciosa aurea Marmorata have yellow patches instead of white like the albo. I would like to know if they are different subspecies as sometimes the albo plant gives of green, yellow patches aswell.

This is controversial and if you ask 10 people you will get 10 different answers. This is my answer.
Monstera Deliciosa can have 3 colors. Green is the normal color. Variegation with white, yellow. or a combination of both are spontaneous genetic mutations that have occurred in a green plant.

There are no subspecies of Monstera deliciosa.

Monstera deliciosa is the scientifically ACCEPTED NAME.
All the other names that you hear are SYNONYMS of that accepted name. They include:
Monstera borsigiana
Monstera deliciosa var. borsigiana
Monstera deliciosa var sierriana
Monstera lennea
Monstera taccanaensis
Philodendron anatomicaum
Tornelia fragrans (illrgitimate name)

There are no species or subspecies Marmorata, and the M. borsigiana is now referred to as 'small form'. It is not its own separate species.

The color variations in Monstera are caused by genetic mutations. What the color is, yellow or white, and what the pattern is, is determined by what the mutation was.

I am of the school (and there are a lot of us) that albo-variegata and the form called 'Thai Constellation' are actually the same thing, the only difference being that 'TC" has a pattern of variegation that is largely predetermined to be spots, while 'albo-variegated' has more areas of sectional variegation. All that albo-variegation means is WHITE VARIEGATION. It does not refer at all to any patterning.

Just as all that Aurea-variegation means is YELLOW VARIEGATION.

They are descriptive terms nothing more.

It should also be noted that the 'Thai constellation' spotted form of green and white variegation can also have areas of sectional variegation on the same plant. The spotted variegation is the more stable form of variegation. The sectional form is more prone to reverting.

Variegation patterning is predetermined by hay the mutated cells are distributed in the tissue of the meristem before they travel out across the petiole and into the leaf blade. Some variegation is strong and stable, some is transient (like the ones called MINT) and the ones called HALF MOON are really just lucky sequential half and half leaves...that can go away at any time. Almost all variegated plants will have half and half leaves, AND all white leaves, sometimes.

But one name that is totally not applicable to Monsteras is 'Cheese plant'.

Thank you
I did wonder because yellow monsters are priced at so much more then the albos.

Its because its a more unusual genetic mutation

I agree, Split-Leaf Philodendron (Monstera deliciosa) is the accepted scientific name. Our database shows the species as well as the below cultivars. I don't know if there is a registry for Monstera deliciosa cultivars, or if these are just names individuals have placed on plants.

White Variegated Borsigiana (Monstera deliciosa 'Borsigiana Albovariegata')



Monstera Plant (Monstera deliciosa 'Albovariegata Contorta')



Yellow Variegated Monstera (Monstera deliciosa 'Marmorata')



White Variegated Monstera (Monstera deliciosa 'Albovariegata')



Split-Leaf Philodendron (Monstera deliciosa 'Cheesecake')



Monstera deliciosa 'Thai Constellation'


We currently have no photos in our database of these two:
Yellow Variegated Borsigiana (Monstera deliciosa 'Borsigiana Aurea Variegata')
Split Leaf Philodendron (Monstera deliciosa 'Borsigiana')

That is because you really DO have those photos, because all of these are really just natural variations of the same plants. They aren't really 'cultivars'. They are just variations in patterning that are naturally occurring.
Just like the so called 'mint' and so called 'half-moon'.

I just want to tease your minds a bit with this post. I am not trying to be an 'authority' on variegated monstera. I have only been growing them since about 2001/2. I had them before I built my greenhouse in 2003, but I can;t remember how many years before.
Anyway, I don't believe there are genuinely different 'cultivars' of Variegated monstera, and I know several people who have also grown them for many years who don't.

Why? because we have seen out plants make all the different and various forms of variegation that people try and claim are 'different enough' to constitute what would be an actual cultivar.

Take my original parent plants. These photos are different shots of my original 3 plants, which are quite large now because they are older.








You might look at these and say, hmmm...lots of speckling, lots of spots, not much splash (sectional variegation)...nice but kind of plain, Thai Constellation.

But now look at THESE photos of plants. If you looked at these, then looked at the pics above, you would probably say, 'She bought these at different times from different sources'. But, you would be wrong. These are ALL without exception, propagations from my original 3 mother plants.























As you can see they run the gamut. Some you would call ALBO, some HALF MOON, some MINT, and some THAI CONSTELLATION. And they are all the same plant, from the same parents. It just natural variations in the variegation pattern. Its nothing new, or different. People put those names on them to try and make you think that they are different, so that you will spend more money on more plants.