Araceae

Terrestrial

Plant Habitat

Symplocarpus foetidus

(skunk cabbage)Arisaema triphyllum

(jack-in-the-pulpit)

Aquatic

Plant Habitat

Orontium aquaticum(golden club)

Lemna trisulca (star

duckweed)

Shrub

Plant Habit

Aglaonema commutatum

(Philippine evergreen)

Vine

Plant Habit

Syngonium podophyllum

(arrowhead vine)

Herb

Plant Habit

Anthurium cordatum(organ mountain

laceleaf)

Roots-often mycorrhizal, without root hairs

Stems-rhizoomatous, cormose, tuberous, or reduced-can be aerial, creeping, subterranean, or appressed-climbing-frequently scandent, rarely erect, hardened, and armed, or not differentiated into stem or leaf

Colocasia esculenta

Leaves- simple, bifacial, spiral, or distichous, sometimes highly divided or fenestrate (often exhibiting heteroblasty), with parallel, penni-parallel, or netted venation

- terminal, many-flowered spadix (with a sterile apical portion in some), usually

subtended by a prominent, often colored spathe, or reduced

Inflorescence

Flowers- small, bisexual or unisexual (female flowers often proximal, and the male distal on a spadix), actinomorphic, sessile, ebracteate, hypogynous, sometimes foul-smelling

(A) Early stage of development of the inflorescence showing the appendix (smooth upper portion) and the floral zone (lower portion with floral primordia). The arrow indicates the separation between the appendix proper and the basal stipe portion of the inflorescence. (B) floral portion of the inflorescence: B, bristle; M, male flower; F, female flower; arrows, atypical flowers; asterisk, nearly enclosed ovary. (C) Early stage of initiation of female flowers. (D) Development of the ovary wall (O) of female flowers (E) Close up of two atypical flowers (arrows).

Perianth-biseriate and 2+2 or 3+3 [4+4] or absent, apotepalous or basally syntepalous, a hypanthium absent

Stamens- 4, 6, or 8, distinct or connate, antitepalous in bisexual flowers; anthers are poricidal, longitudinal, or transverse in dehiscence

Gynoecium- syncarpous, with a superior ovary, 3 carpels, usually as many locules as carpels, style and stigma one and short or absent; placentation is variable; ovules are usually anatropous and bitegmic

Fruit- typically a multiple of berries, less often dry,e.g., of utricles

Seeds- oily (sometimes also starchy) endospermous (rarely endosperm absent) with a sometimes fleshy seed coat

Jack-in-the-pulpit Arisaema atrorubens

-traditionally divided into several subfamilies

Araceae

Lemnaceae/Lemnoideae-small, thalloid to globoseaquatics with very reduced flowers

Calloideae-often found in marshy habitats in the northern hemisphere. 

-no trichosclereids in flowers

-has only one genus: Calla

Calla palustris

Pothoideae-consists of four genera namely, Anthurium, Pothos, Pedicellarum and Pothoidium.

Anthurium andraeanum