Cheltenham’s Independent Houseplant Shop!
Cheltenham’s Independent Houseplant Shop!
Aroid is the common name for a plant in the Araceae (a-RAY-see-eh) family. Aroids are characterised by their unusual ‘flower’ called an inflorescence. Inflorescence are made up of a spadix, where the male and female parts are, and spathe, a modified leaf to protect the spadix.
Probably the most well known Aroid flowers are of the Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum sp.) and Calla Lily (Zantedeschia sp.). The most well known foliage houseplants are the Swiss Cheese Plant (Monstera deliciosa) and Philodendron sp. .
There are currently 140 accepted genera and 3667 accepted species in the arum family. Notable botanists Peter Boyce and Thomas B Croat have anticipated that there are 6584 species out there in total, so there is lots of work to be done!
If you’d like to learn more about Aroids, both Steve Lucas’ website Exotic Rainforest and the International Aroid Society are invaluable sources of information.
