Belongs within: Araceae.
Contains: Caladieae, Arisaema.
The Aroideae are a clade of aroids with the spadix (flower-spike) divided into a male and female region, and spathe differentiated into tube and blade. Lactifers are present. Pollen is inaperturate with a thin thin ectexine, thick and spongy endexine and massive intine (Angiosperm Phylogeny Website).
Notable members of the clade include taro Colocasia esculenta, widely grown for its edible corms. Many, such as species of Philodendron, are popular ornamental plants grown primarily for their foliage. The titan arum Amorphophallus titanum produces the world’s largest unbranched inflorescence, reaching a height of up to 2.5 metres.
Pistia stratiotes
Published 6 July 2010
The main subject of the above photo is the aroid Pistia stratiotes, commonly known as water lettuce. While the specimens shown here appear to have become stranded, water lettuce grows as free-floating rosettes on the surface of open bodies of water. The leaves radiate from an extremely shortened central stem with the tiny flowers produced in pockets at the bases of the leaves. As well as producing flowers, water lettuce reproduces vegetatively by the production of lateral stolons that give rise to daughter rosettes. Given time, a colony of water lettuce can carpet an entire lake.
Systematics of Aroideae
<==Aroideae |--+--NephthytideaeTB04 | | |--Anchomanes difformisTB04 | | `--Nephthytis afzeliiTB04 | `--Aglaonema [Aglaonemateae]TB04 | |--A. griffithiiP88 | |--A. modestumTB04 | `--A. oblongifoliumK03 `--+--Anubias [Anubiadeae]TB04 | `--A. barteriTB04 | |--A. b. var. barteriTB04 | `--A. b. var. caladiifoliaTB04 |--+--CulcasieaeTB04 | | |--Culcasia saxatilisTB04 | | `--+--Cercestis stigmaticusTB04 | | `--Rhektophyllum mirabileTB04 | `--+--Dieffenbachia [Dieffenbachieae]TB04 | | `--D. pittieriTB04 | `--Spathicarpa [Spathicarpeae]TB04 | `--S. sagittifoliaTB04 |--+--Montrichardia [Montrichardieae]TB04 | | `--M. arborescensTB04 [incl. M. aculeataBTA75] | `--+--Homalomena [Homalomeneae]TB04 | | |--H. aromaticaA78 | | |--H. propingaK03 | | `--H. rubescensTB04 | `--Philodendron [Philodendreae, Philodendroideae]TB04 | | i. s.: P. callosumNS06 | | P. consanguineumJ87 | | P. cordatumKSM06 | | P. selloumSBM11 | | P. sinuatumMM96 | | P. warszewicziiEN20 | |--P. insigneTB04 | |--P. rudgeanumTB04 | |--P. solimoesenseTB04 | `--+--P. fragrantissimumTB04 | `--+--P. billietiaeTB04 | `---P. melinoniiTB04 `--+--+--CaladieaeTB04 | `--ThomsonieaeTB04 | |--PseudodracontiumFPC04 | `--AmorphophallusTB04 | |--A. galbraLK14 | |--A. gigasB14 | |--A. paeoniifoliusTB04 | | |--A. p. var. paeoniifoliusTB04 | | `--A. p. var. campanulatusTB04 | `--A. titanumCG12 `--+--Peltandra [Peltandreae]TB04 | `--P. virginicaTB04 `--+--+--ArisaemaTB04 | `--Pistia [Pistieae]TB04 | |--P. occidentalisFS90 | `--P. stratiotesTB04 `--Colocasieae [Colocasioideae]TB04 |--ProtarumFPC04 |--SteudneraFPC04 |--Colocasia esculenta (Linnaeus) Schott in Schott & Endlicher 1832HE80 (see below for synonymy) | |--C. e. var. esculentaLK14 | `--C. e. var. aquatilisLK14 `--AlocasiaTB04 |--A. cupreaH03 |--A. denudataP88 |--A. indicaT-W89 |--A. macrorrhiza (Linnaeus) Don in Sweet 1839HE80 (see below for synonymy) `--A. odoraTB04 Aroideae incertae sedis: ArumHE80 |--A. dioscoridisPT98 |--A. dracunculusD97 |--A. italicum Miller 1768HE80 `--A. maculatumTG88 Arisarum [Arisareae]FPC04 `--A. vulgarePT98 Ambrosina [Ambrosineae]FPC04 Calla [Calloideae]NS06 `--C. palustrisNS06
Alocasia macrorrhiza (Linnaeus) Don in Sweet 1839HE80 [=Caladium macrorrhizonB78, Colocasia macrorrhizaB78]
Colocasia esculenta (Linnaeus) Schott in Schott & Endlicher 1832HE80 [=Arum esculentumV01, Caladium esculentumHE80; incl. C. acreB78, C. esculenta var. antiquorumHE80, Arum colocasiaC55]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[A78] Ananthakrishnan, T. N. 1978. Thrips galls and gall thrips. Zoological Survey of India, Technical Monograph 1: 1–69, 26 pls.
[BTA75] Baker, E. W., D. M. Tuttle & M. J. Abbatiello. 1975. The false spider mites of northwestern and north central Mexico (Acarina: Tenuipalpidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 194: 1–23.
[B78] Bentham, G. 1878. Flora Australiensis: A description of the plants of the Australian Territory vol. 7. Roxburghiaceae to Filices. L. Reeve & Co.: London.
[B14] Bouchard, P. (ed.) 2014. The Book of Beetles: A lifesize guide to six hundred of nature’s gems. Ivy Press: Lewes (United Kingdom).
[C55] Candolle, A. de. 1855. Géographie Botanique Raisonée: Ou exposition des faits principaux et des lois concernant la distribution géographique des plantes de l’époque actuelle vol. 2. Librairie de Victor Masson: Paris.
[CG12] Clouse, R., & G. Giribet. 2012. On the Cyphophthalmi (Arachnida, Opiliones) types from the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale “Giacomo Doria”. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 160 (5): 241–257.
[D97] Duméril, A. M. C. 1797. Extrait d’une dissertation sur l’organe de l’odorat dans les insectes. Bulletin des Sciences, par la Societé Philomathique de Paris 1 (5): 34.
[EN20] Eggli, U., & R. Nyffeler (eds) 2020. Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Monocotyledons 2nd ed. Springer.
[FS90] Fleutiaux, E., & A. Sallé. 1890. Liste des coléoptères de la Guadeloupe et descriptions d’espèces nouvelles. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, 6e série 9: 351–484.
[FPC04] Friis, E. M., K. R. Pedersen & P. R. Crane. 2004. Araceae from the Early Cretaceous of Portugal: evidence on the emergence of monocotyledons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 101 (47): 16565–16570.
[H03] Heads, M. 2003. Ericaceae in Malesia: vicariance biogeography, terrane tectonics and ecology. Telopea 10 (1): 311–449.
[HE80] Healy, A. J., & E. Edgar. 1980. Flora of New Zealand vol. 3. Adventive cyperaceous, petalous and spathaceous monocotyledons. P. D. Hasselberg, Government Printer: Wellington (New Zealand).
[J87] Judd, W. S. 1987. Floristic study of Morne La Visite and Pic Macaya National Parks, Haiti. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum—Biological Sciences 32 (1): 1–136.
[KSM06] King, R. C., W. D. Stansfield & P. K. Mulligan. 2006. A Dictionary of Genetics 7th ed. Oxford University Press.
[K03] Kulip, J. 2003. An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal and other useful plants of Muruts in Sabah, Malaysia. Telopea 10 (1): 81–98.
[LK14] Lyons, M. N., G. J. Keighery, L. A. Gibson & T. Handasyde. 2014. Flora and vegetation communities of selected islands off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 81: 205–244.
[MM96] Mound, L. A., & R. Marullo. 1996. The thrips of Central and South America: an introduction (Insecta: Thysanoptera). Memoirs on Entomology, International 6: 1–487.
[NS06] Nie, Z.-L., H. Sun, H. Li & J. Wen. 2006. Intercontinental biogeography of subfamily Orontioideae (Symplocarpus, Lysichiton, and Orontium) of Araceae in eastern Asia and North America. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 40 (1): 155–165.
[PT98] Panitsa, M., & D. Tzanoudakis. 1998. Contribution to the study of the Greek flora: flora and vegetation of the E Aegean islands Agathonisi and Pharmakonisi. Willdenowia 28: 95–116.
[P88] Polunin, I. 1988. Plants and Flowers of Malaysia. Times Editions: Singapore.
[SBM11] Solomon, E. P., L. R. Berg & D. W. Martin (eds) 2011. Biology 9th ed. Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning.
[TB04] Tam, S.-M., P. C. Boyce, T. M. Upson, D. Barabé, A. Bruneau, F. Forest & J. S. Parker. 2004. Intergeneric and infrafamilial phylogeny of subfamily Monsteroideae (Araceae) revealed by chloroplast trnL-F sequences. American Journal of Botany 91 (3): 490–498.
[T-W89] Tenison-Woods, J. E. 1889. On the vegetation of Malaysia. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 4 (1): 9–106, pls 1–9.
[TG88] Tepfer, D., A. Goldmann, N. Pamboukdjian, M. Maille, A. Lepingle, D. Chevalier, J. Dénarié & C. Rosenberg. 1988. A plasmid of Rhizobium meliloti 41 encodes catabolism of two compounds from root exudate of Calystegium sepium. Journal of Bacteriology 170 (3): 1153–1161.
[V01] Ventenat, C. 1801. Dissertation sur le genre Arum. Bulletin des Sciences, par la Societé Philomathique de Paris 2 (46): 171–172.