The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe. Also known as the arum family, members are often colloquially known as aroids. This family of 114 genera and about 3,750 known species is most diverse in the New World tropics, although also distributed in the Old World tropics and northern temperate regions.
Amorphophallus is a large genus of some 200 tropical and subtropical tuberous herbaceous plants from the Arum family (Araceae), native to Asia, Africa, Australia and various oceanic islands. A few species are edible as "famine foods" after careful preparation to remove irritating chemicals. The genus includes the Titan arum of Indonesia, which has the largest inflorescence of any plant in the genus, and is also known as the 'corpse flower' for the pungent odour it produces during its flowering period, which can take up to seven years of growth before it occurs.
In botany, a spadix is a type of inflorescence having small flowers borne on a fleshy stem. Spadices are typical of the family Araceae, the arums or aroids. The spadix is typically surrounded by a leaf-like curved bract known as a spathe. For example, the "flower" of the well known Anthurium spp. is a typical spadix with a large colorful spathe.
Philodendron is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. As of June 2013, the Plants of the World Online accepted 621 species; other sources accept different numbers. Regardless of number of species, the genus is the second-largest member of the family Araceae, after genus Anthurium. Taxonomically, the genus Philodendron is still poorly known, with many undescribed species. Many are grown as ornamental and indoor plants. The name derives from the Greek words philo- 'love, affection' and dendron 'tree'. The generic name, Philodendron, is often used as the English name.
Symplocarpus foetidus, commonly known as skunk cabbage or eastern skunk cabbage, is a low-growing plant that grows in wetlands and moist hill slopes of eastern North America. Bruised leaves present an odor reminiscent of skunk.
Arum maculatum, commonly known as cuckoopint, jack-in-the-pulpit and other names, is a woodland flowering plant species in the family Araceae. It is native across most of Europe, as well as Eastern Turkey and the Caucasus.
Zantedeschia aethiopica, commonly known as calla lily and arum lily, is a species of flowering plant in the family Araceae, native to southern Africa in Lesotho, South Africa, and Eswatini.
Arisaema triphyllum, the Jack-in-the-pulpit, is a species of flowering plant in the arum family Araceae. It is a member of the Arisaema triphyllum complex, a group of four or five closely related taxa in eastern North America. The specific name triphyllum means "three-leaved", a characteristic feature of the species, which is also referred to as Indian turnip, bog onion, and brown dragon.
Carrion flowers, also known as corpse flowers or stinking flowers, are mimetic flowers that emit an odor that smells like rotting flesh. Apart from the scent, carrion flowers often display additional characteristics that contribute to the mimesis of a decaying corpse. These include their specific coloration, the presence of setae, and orifice-like flower architecture. Carrion flowers attract mostly scavenging flies and beetles as pollinators. Some species may trap the insects temporarily to ensure the gathering and transfer of pollen.
Sauromatum venosum is a species of plant in the arum family, Araceae. It is native to Asia and Africa, where it grows in forests and riparian meadows.
Helicodiceros muscivorus, the dead horse arum lily, is an ornamental plant native to Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearic Islands. It is the only species in the genus Helicodiceros. Within the family Araceae the plant is part of the subfamily Aroideae.
Dracunculus vulgaris is a species of aroid flowering plant in the genus Dracunculus and the arum family Araceae. Common names include the common dracunculus, dragon lily, dragon arum, black arum and vampire lily. In Greece, part of its native range, the plant is called drakondia, the long spadix being viewed as a small dragon hiding in the spathe.
Bucephalandra is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. There are 30 species of Bucephalandra which have been discovered in Borneo and have been formally described by S.Y. Wong and P.C. Boyce. Most of the species are found in Borneo. Bucephalandra are usually found growing as dense mats over stones or rocks in streams or rivers in moist tropical forest.
Peltandra virginica is a plant of the arum family known as green arrow arum and tuckahoe. It is widely distributed in wetlands in the eastern United States, as well as in Quebec, Ontario, and Cuba. It is common in central Florida including the Everglades and along the Gulf Coast. Its rhizomes are tolerant to low oxygen levels found in wetland soils. It can be found elsewhere in North America as an introduced species and often an invasive plant.
Amorphophallus titanum, the titan arum, is a flowering plant in the family Araceae. It has a large unbranched inflorescence; a tall single leaf, branched like a tree; and a heavy tuber which enables the plant to produce the inflorescence. A. titanum is endemic to rainforests on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
Arum dioscoridis, commonly known as the Spotted arum, is a plant of the arum family (Araceae).
Arum cylindraceum is a woodland plant species of the family Araceae. It is found in most of Europe except the UK, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States and Scandinavia, and in Turkey. It is also missing in northwestern France and southern Italy.
Arum orientale is a woodland plant species of the family Araceae. It is found in southeastern Europe as far west as Vienna and in Turkey. Its primary range is Romania, Bulgaria, and southern Ukraine.
Arum sintenisii, known as Sintenis arum, is a flowering plant species in the family Araceae.
Amorphophallus gigas is a plant in the Arum, or Calla Lily, Family, (Araceae) native to Sumatra. It is also known as Amorphophallus brooksii. It resembles its near relative Amorphophallus titanum in having a very large spadix surrounded by a very large spathe. In both species the inflorescence can be up to 11 ft 4 in in height, has the smell of rotting flesh, and is fly pollinated. According to Bown, the record specimen was 4.36 meters in height, of which 1.5 meters was the spadix. The tuber, a corm, is second in size only to A. titanum at up to 70 kilograms in weight.
