A "very rare" houseplant has sold on Trade Me for $27,100, beating the previous record.
The white variegated Rhaphidophora tetrasperma, also known as philodendron minima or "mini monstera", reached its selling price on Sunday evening after a week of frenzied bidding.
The plant has eight leaves, with a ninth due to uncurl, and the listing said each leaf has "excellent" variegation.
The listing had over 102,000 views and more than 1600 watchers.
A last-minute bidding war between three people in the last hour of the auction saw the price skyrocket from $9200 to $27,100.
Rhaphidophora tetraspermas originate from Malaysia and southern Thailand and were first discovered in 1893 by British botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker.
It is a vining plant and uses its aerial roots to climb trees or trellises.
A variegated minima sold for $8150 last year on Trade Me, and at the time it set a record for its price, but that has since been beaten by a Philodendron Florida Ghost plant that was purchased for $12,250.
