Contains 22 genera and 36 accepted taxa overall.
This family is completely databased for all specimens.
Characteristics
ARACEAE
Monocot
-
Classification
ALISMATALES
ARACEAE
Genera
| Genus | Common Name | Taxa Count | Herbarium Specimens | Photos |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aglaonema | AGLAONEMA | 1 | ||
| Alocasia | TARO | 2 | ||
| Anthurium | ANTHURIUM | 1 | ||
| Arisaema | JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT | 3 | ||
| Colocasia | COLOCASIA | 1 | ||
| Cryptocoryne | WATER-TRUMPET | 1 | ||
| Dieffenbachia | DUMB CANE | 1 | ||
| Epipremnum | TONGAVINE | 2 | ||
| Gonatopus | 1 | |||
| Landoltia | LANDOLTIA | 1 | ||
| Lasia | LASIA | 1 | ||
| Lemna | DUCKWEED | 5 | ||
| Monstera | WINDOWLEAF | 1 | ||
| Orontium | GOLDENCLUB | 1 | ||
| Peltandra | ARROW ARUM | 2 | ||
| Philodendron | PHILODENDRON | 1 | ||
| Pistia | WATER-LETTUCE | 1 | ||
| Spirodela | DUCKWEED | 1 | ||
| Syngonium | ARROWHEAD VINE | 2 | ||
| Wolffia | WATERMEAL | 3 | ||
| Wolffiella | MUDMIDGET | 3 | ||
| Xanthosoma | ELEPHANT'S EAR | 1 |
Identification Key
1. Fronds or leaves minute, floating, mostly solitary or budding, 0.3-6 mm long (Lemnoideae)
1. Fronds or leaves not minute, terrestrial or floating, several, 10-1000+ mm long
2
2. Plant floating or stranded, leaves forming a rosette
2. Plant terrestrial or aquatic, not floating, rooted in substrate, leaves not forming a rosette
3
3. Vines, vine-like, epiphytic, creeping or climbing, or free-standing and shrubby, the stems elongate with adventitious roots nearly throughout (some taxa only fertile when climbing, immature plants sometimes terrestrial and creeping and not climbing)
3. Erect or epiphytic herb, any adventitious roots generally confined to the base of the stem or the stem not much elongate
4
4. Leaves compound
4. Leaves simple
1. (Key A) Roots absent; frond without veins; daughter fronds from single terminal pouch or cavity
2
1. Roots 1-21 per frond; fronds with 1-21 veins (often obscure); daughter fronds and flowers from 2 lateral pouches at frond base
3
2. Fronds 3-dimensional (globular, ovoid, or boat-shaped), without air spaces; daughter fronds from terminal conic pouch or cavity at mother-frond base; flower in cavity on median line of upper frond surface
2. Fronds flat (linear, ribbon-, sabre-, or tongue-shaped, or ovate), with air spaces; daughter fronds from terminal flat pouch at mother-frond base; flower(s) in cavity at side of median line of upper frond surface
3. Roots 1 per frond; fronds with 1-5(7) veins, without scale at base; pigment cells absent (red pigmentation present in some species)
3. Roots (1)2-21 per frond; fronds with (3)5-16(21) veins, surrounded at base by small scale covering point of attachment of roots; pigment cells present (visible in dead fronds as brown dots)
4
4. Fronds 1.5-2 times as long as wide, with (3)5-7 veins, and with (1)2-7(12) roots, all perforating scale
4. Fronds 1-1.5 times as long as wide, with 7-16(21) veins, and with 7-21 roots, 1-2 perforating scale
1. (Key B) Leaves monomorphic
2
1. Leaves dimorphic, the immature stems near ground with simple or few-lobed leaves, the fertile climbing stems with larger, often more divided or lobed leaves
5
2. Vine or vine-like, stems weak (some taxa only fertile when climbing, immature plants sometimes terrestrial and creeping and not climbing)
2. Free-standing to scarcely vining (roots sometimes wrapping around trees), the stem stout and trunk-like
3. Juvenile leaves with the base sagittate or hastate, mature leaf blades pedately divided
3. Juvenile leaf blade bases cordate to rounded, mature leaf blades pinnatifid or perforate
4
4. Leaves not developing holes and perforations or these minute; ovary unilocular or incompletely bilocular, with a single intrusive placenta bearing 2-4(6) ovules at its base; seeds curved, 3-7 mm long, 1.5-4 mm wide, testa hard, endosperm present
4. Leaves usually developing holes and perforations; ovary 2-locular, the septum perforate at its base, 2 basal ovules per loculus; seeds globose to oblong, 5-22 mm long, 4-12 mm wide, testa soft, endosperm absent
1. (Key C) Leaves pinnate
1. Leaves 3-foliolate, palmately compound, pedately compound, or 2- or more-pinnately compound
2
2. Leaves 3-foliolate, palmately compound, or pedately compound, present when flowering
2. Leaves 2- or more compound, sometimes absent during flowering
3
3. Leaves tripartite, usually dividing into 3 equal parts at the petiole apex
3. Leaves 2- or more pinnately compound with a central dominant axis
1. (Key D) Leaves and peduncles with numerous prickles
1. Leaves and peduncles lacking prickles
2
2. Leaf blades rounded, acute, truncate, to shallowly cordate at the base
3
2. Leaf blades strongly sagittate, hastate, or peltate at the base
8
3. Aquatic herbs with leaves frequently submersed
3. Aquatic or terrestrial herbs, the leaves emergent or floating
4
4. Leaves with obscure, longitudinal parallel venation; spathe small and restricted to the very base of the scape
4. Leaves with evident lateral or secondary veins; spathe larger, fully enclosing the spadix or nearly so
5
5. Leaves usually variegated white or red and green; flowers unisexual; spathe enclosing the spadix at maturity
6
5. Leaves usually uniformly greens; flowers bisexual; spathe expanded or lax, not enclosing spadix at maturity
7
6. Leaves variegated red and green or white and green; female part of spadix free from the spathe
6. Leaves variegated white and green, or not variegated; female part of spadix adnate to the spathe and tightly concealed by the spathe
7. Spathe purple, red, green, rarely white; spadix rather smooth, the flowers embedded; pollen sulcate
7. Spathe white; spadix tuberculate, with protruding flowers; pollen striate
8. Leaves variegated and usually 1-2 per stem
8. Leaves not variegated, 1-several per stem
9
9. Spathe often brightly colored, purple, red, pink, white, sometimes green, often expanded or lax and not tightly enclosing the spadix; flowers bisexual
9. Spathe green to white, sometimes enclosing the spadix; flowers unisexual
10
10. Leaf blade peltate
11
10. Leaf blade sagittate or hastate
12
11. Leaf blade margins often undulate, the lateral veins prominently raised
11. Leaf blade margins plane to weakly undulate, the lateral veins plane with the surface
12. Petiole to 0.6 m long; leaf blades to 50 cm long, to 25 cm wide, the lateral veins mostly uniform and parallel except near the margin
12. Petiole to 2 m long; leaf blades to 90+ cm long or wide, the lateral veins differentiating into thickened secondary and smaller anastomosing tertiary ones
13
13. Leaf blade erect to ascending, the lobes and apex obtuse to rounded
13. Leaf blade reflexed, the lobes and apex acute