Araceae

Species in the arum family are mostly small perennial herbs, though the
family encompasses a wide variety of growth forms. Many of the species
are aquatic or wetland plants, but a few grow in uplands. New England has
two distinct groups of plants in this family: the aroids and the thalloids. In
the aroids, the flowers are clustered tightly together on a spike (the
spadix) subtended by (and sometimes concealed within) a leaf-like or
colored structure called a spathe. Pollen-bearing flowers are arranged at
the top of the spike and the ovule-bearing flowers are on the bottom. The
petals and sepals are small and sometimes absent, but when present they
collectively number 4-6 and may be fused together. There are usually 4-6
very short stamens per flower and one ovary. The ovary sits above the
perianth (i.e., is superior) and is more or less embedded into the spadix.
The fruit is usually fleshy, like a berry, but may sometimes be dry. The
other group, the thalloids, are free-floating plants that are not
differentiated into stems and leaves; instead, they have a photosynthetic
thallus that floats on the water surface or is submersed below it. In these
species, there is usually only one flower per plant and the flower contains
both pollen-bearing and ovule-bearring parts. They have no petals or
sepals, 1 or 2 pollen-bearing flowers each with one stamen and one ovary.
The fruit is a specialized type of achene called a utricle. Despite their
differences, these two groups are united on many features, including
details of the inflorescence and DNA sequences. The thalloid species are
merely highly reduced versions of the aroids.
8 genera, 9 species
1. Climbers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------2
2

Cordate, leathery
Monstera

2
Scindapsus
2

---------------------------------------------------------------

Sagittate, not leathery ----------------------------------------------------Ovate, not leather-------------------------------------------------------------Epipremnum

1. Not climbers
2. Tuberous
2
3

Caladium

not Tuberose ---------------------------------------------------------- 3

presence of white spots -------------------------------------------4
4 small white spots
-----------------------------------------------------Aglaonema
4large white spots
----------------------------------------------------Dieffenbachia

3absence of white spots ---------------------------------------------Colocasia

1. Monstera
Stout, climbing aroid with long, hanging, rodlike aerial roots. Leaves are
large, to 90 cm long, cordate, thick, leathery, glossy green, pinnately
cut, and perforated with oblong holes.

2. Caladium
Tuberous rocky plant, to 1 m tall. Leaves are sagittate and ovate. The
blade is mostly green, with scattered white spots, and the veins are
reddish. The spathe is green with white to yellow upper portion.

3. Scindapsus
Has large, glossy, heart-shaped leaves of green marbled with cream,
are a feature if this indoor plant. Train up a totem pole or grow in a
hanging basket or decorative pot to best display its attractive foliage.
The leathery, shiny-surface, hart-shaped leaves are arranged
alternately on 5-8cm (2-3 inch) long leaf-stalks. Flowers are not
produced indoors.

4. Dieffenbachia
A perennial herb with large, glossy, glass-green, and oval leaves with
numerous white spots or patches on the upper surface; petioles are
dotted pale green; spathe is greenish.

5. Livistona
Solitary, erect, gray or brown stems with closely spaced rings of leaf
scars, eventually wearing away to leave a relatively smooth (corky
toward the base) stem. Costapalmate leaves divided to about twothirds their length into stiff segments with drooping, bifid tips. Fruits
are greenish to grayish blue when mature.

6. Epipremnum
Fast-growing, climbing aroid. Leaves of young plant are waxy, broad
ovate to heart-shaped; the blade is dark green with yellow blotches.
Leaves of mature plant are much bigger than the young plant, to 40 cm
long and to 20 cm wide. It grows well in partial shade.

7. Aglaonema costatum

These are evergreen perennial herbs with stems growing erect or

decumbent and creeping. Stems that grow along the ground may root
at the nodes. There is generally a crown of wide leaf blades which in
wild species are often variegated with silver and green coloration. The
inflorescence bears unisexual flowers in a spadix, with a short zone of
female flowers near the base and a wider zone of male flowers nearer
the tip. The fruit is a fleshy berry that ripens red. The fruit is a thin
layer covering one large seed.[2]Plants of the genus are native to
humid, shady tropical forest habitat

8. Colocosia
Taro, sometimes called the "potato of the tropics," or "elephant
ears" is a wetland herbaceous perennial with huge elephant
ear like leaves. It produces heart shaped leaves 2-3' long and 12' across on 3' long petioles that all emanate from an upright
tuberous rootstock, called a corm. The petioles are thick,
succulent, and often purplish. The leaf petiole attaches near the
center of the leaf. The corm is shaped like a top with rough
ridges, lumps and spindly roots, and usually weighs around 1-2
pounds, but can weigh eight pounds. The skin is brown with white
or pink flesh. Taros can produce smaller tubers or "cormels"
which grow off the sides of the main corm. Under ideal growing
conditions, a single taro plant can get 8' tall with an 8canopy
spread.