Philodendron cordatum vs hederaceum- Differences & Similarities to identify

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Do you need clarification on philodendron cordatum and hederaceum? Do you ever think to differentiate these two houseplants?

The main differences between philodendron cordatum and hederaceum are, the leaves of philodendron cordatum are bigger, darker green and rougher than those of hederaceum. Besides, the philodendron cordatum plants need dry organic fertilizer, whereas the hederaceum prefers liquid fertilizers. Again, the philodendron cordatum can not tolerate direct sunlight at all, while when it comes to lighting conditions, the hederaceum is much more tolerable compared to philodendron cordatum.

Many people have some confusion between the philodendron cordatum and the philodendron hederaceum plant. If anyone observes closely, he will surely get dissimilarities between them. Today we are going to discuss how these two plants differ from one another for your easy and better understanding.

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Comparison chart of Philodendron cordatum and hederaceum

There are differences between philodendron cordatum and hederaceum in their types and nature of leaves and caring instructions. Before getting into the detailed discussion, here is a quick view of a comparison table between philodendron cordatum and hederaceum.

Basis of Comparison	Philodendron cordatum	Hederaceum
Common name	Philodendron cordatum	Philodendron hederaceum, Philo scandens, heart-leaf plants
Genus	Philodendron.	Philodendron
Plant type	Hemi-epiphytic, epilithic	Woody hemiepiphytic.
Growth habit	Vine.	Vine.
The average length of plants	Kept up to 5 feet tall as an indoor plant.30-40 feet tall as wild plants.	Kept up to 5 feet tall as an indoor plant.20-25 feet tall as wild plants.
Types of leaves	Bigger than hederaceum leaves, dark and emerald green.	Shorter than Philo cordatum, Glossy and light green.
The average width of leaves	Can be up to 12″ in width	Can be up to 4″ in width
Light exposure	Can’t tolerate direct sunlight at all.	Can tolerate direct sunlight for a long time.
Ideal temperature	65°F to 75°F (18°C to 27°C)	75°F to 85°F (24°C to 30°C)
Soil type	Well-drainage, chunkey and soil must be mixed with peat, perlite and wood bark	Well-drainage, soil with peat moss is enough.
Watering system	Frequently and generously. Distilled or, rain or, aquarium water should be used.	Moderately. Any type of clean water can be used.
Fertilizer	Dry organic fertilizer should be used	Liquid fertilizer should be used.
Flower blooming	Produce white flowers almost after 15 years of planting.	Produce white flowers almost after 15 years of planting.
Native area	Southeastern coastal brazil & South America	Central America & Caribbean
Toxicity	More toxic and produces Severe symptoms in pets.	Less toxic and produces mild symptoms in pets.

Philodendron Cordatum vs Hederaceum

Most people have the misconception that the philodendron cordatum plant is the same as a hederaceum plant. But to be very clear, they are not the same plant at all. The two plants are hard to distinguish until they are kept side by side.

Anyone can easily identify these two plants just by observing their physical views. The most basic difference in the outer look of these two plants is that the leaves of philodendron cordatum are in lighter and brighter green shade compared to that of hederaceum.

Besides, the philodendron cordatum plant is normally bigger than hederaceum. Again, the leaves of philodendron cordatum are also rougher than those of hederaceum.

What are the differences between philodendron cordatum and hederaceum?

Though philodendron cordatum and hederaceum are related plants, they have several distinctive differences by which we can differentiate them. Let’s discuss them below in detail.

Types of foliage: The foliage of hederaceum is pale and slightly brownish, but those of the philodendron cordatum are not.

Natures of leaves: The leaves of the philodendron cordatum are bigger than the hederaceum. Again, the color of leaves is brighter and almost as emerald green with fainter vein lines than those of hederaceum.

Besides, the leaves of philodendron cordatum have a rougher surface than those of hederaceum.

In addition, the leaves of philodendron cordatum get darker and grayish-green when they become mature, while the leaves of hederaceum don’t.

Types of plants: The philodendron cordatum normally grows on the surface of a rock. So they are considered as epilithic. They can collect their required nutrients from rain water or small amounts of organics stored in the rock surface. On the contrary, the hederaceum is woody hemi-epiphytic as they have little woody structure and live their half life-cycle like epiphytes.

Native area: The philodendron cordatum is from southeastern coastal Brazil, South America and in some of the forests of these areas. Whereas the hederaceum is from central America and the Caribbean. They are usually found in swamps and on river banks, roadsides etc.

Variations: Philodendron cordatum has several varieties such as philodendron brasil, philodendron micans etc. Again, philodendron scandens and philodendron lemon-lime are variations of the hederaceum.

Types of soil: Though both plants grow best in a well-draining and chunky soil, the philodendron cordatum must need soil mixed with peat, sphagnum, perlite and wood bark whereas, the hederaceum needs the soil mixed with leaf mold or coarse peat moss.

Methods of fertilizing: The philodendron cordatum often needs fertilizing (every 2-3 weeks) with a dry organic fertilizer in spring and summer. Again, for the hederaceum liquid fertilizers should be applied.

Watering requirements: Philodendron cordatum needs more water than hederaceum. So, frequent and generous watering should be ensured, whereas the hederaceum needs less water than philodendron cordatum and should be watered moderately.

Again, distilled, rain or aquarium water should be used for the philodendron cordatum, while any type of clean water can be used for hederaceum.

Exposures of Light: Though like all other houseplants, these two plants also grow best in bright indirect sunlight, the hederaceum is much tolerable to direct sunlight for too long while the philodendron cordatum can not tolerate it at all.

Again, the hederaceum can also tolerate low light for a long time compared to the philodendron cordatum.

Temperature requirements: The philodendron cordatum grows best at (17°C to 25°C), whereas the hederaceum grows in normal to warm indoor temp. like 24°C to 28°C).

Why do people generally get confused between philodendron cordatum and hederaceum?

As both philodendron cordatum and hederaceum are from the Araceae family and philodendron genus, look alike to some extent. So, often they are mixed up with one another. Again people get confused as both plants are vines and have heart-shaped and greenery leaves. Besides, both philodendron cordatum and hederaceum produce white flowers that almost look similar. This is why often people mistake both of these plants.

Similarities between Philodendron cordatum and hederaceum

As we know that the philodendron cordatum and hederaceum both share a common ancestry and are a rare variety of houseplants, they contain some noticeable similarities in their appearance indeed and people get confused. Thus these similarities between them are needed for this article to clarify their misconceptions fully. The similarities are,

Scientific Information: According to the scientific classification, both the philodendron cordatum and hederaceum plants are almost the same. Such as, both plants belong to the same kingdom(Plantae), clade(tracheophytes angiosperms, monocots), order(Alismatales), family(Araceae) and genus(philodendron).

Visual description: Both the philodendron cordatum and hederaceum are trailing vines houseplants with green heart-shaped leaves that make them confused to identify if they are seen suddenly.

Blooming of flower: Flowers of both the philodendron cordatum and hederaceum are rarely seen. Both plants produce white flowers after almost 15 years of their plantation.

Growth of plants: Both the philodendron cordatum and hederaceum can be big. They can be a maximum of 40 to 50 feet long. But they are kept up to 5 feet as indoor plants.

Toxicity: Both the philodendron cordatum and hederaceum plants are poisonous to pets and even to humans if the plants or leaves are eaten.

Which one should I pick philodendron cordatum or hederaceum?

As there is a very little difference between these two glorious houseplants. So whichever anyone picks will be perfect. Again NASA reports say that all the philodendrons work excellently as air purifiers. So, you can also pick both of them to get the benefits. The more the merrier.

But if anyone wants to pick only one, between the philodendron cordatum plant and hederaceum, hederaceum will be better. Because there are several factors that make the hederaceum slightly better than the philodendron cordatum. The reasons are given below.

This philodendron hederaceum is shorter than Philo cordatum in size and so they are best as indoor ornamental plants. Again, they have a very eye-catching appearance.
As hederaceum can easily tolerate direct sun heat Than philodendron cordatum, So taking care of the leaves is very easy. The homies don’t need to be extra conscious about the sunburn of the leaves. Again it demands very little time to care for and is extremely low maintenance than a philodendron cordatum.
This philodendron hederaceum plant is also best for improving the level of air moisture in your house.
These hederaceum plants can also purify the air and give freshness to the environment.
These plants are extremely easy to grow and maintain as they need very basic care. The homies don’t need to do an extra effort. If someone has little time for fussy plants, then this plant is very useful to decorate the house.
Besides these plants will surely catch everyone’s attention, whether it is placed in the corner of the room or the center of it.
Again though both plants are toxic if they are eaten mistakenly by children or pets, the hederaceum makes less toxic effect than philodendron cordatum.

Final thoughts

Finally, we can see that philodendron cordatum and hederaceum plants are confusing as they are from the same family, order and genus. They can be called similar, but not the same. But as they are from different species, they have different needs and characteristics.

Now, let’s make recap what we get from the above discussion.

People often get confused between these plants as they both have greenery leaves.
Philodendron cordatum plants are larger than hederaceum plants.
There are some differences in their caring guidelines. Like hederaceum is easier to take care of.
Both plants have different adaptability. Like philodendron cordatum can not tolerate direct sunlight at all, but hederaceum can easily tolerate it for too long.
Both plants are toxic to pets and humans if they are eaten. But philodendron cordatum is slightly more toxic than hederaceum as all parts of this plant contain calcium oxalate crystals slightly higher.

Understanding all these comparisons can help to differentiate both plants and help to care for and propagate them successfully accordingly.

You can also read our guide on:
Philodendron Melanochrysum vs Micans [Identify Correctly]