Introduction to the Araceae Family

When you learn to identify the Araceae family, first understand that it is part of the Alismatales order of basal monocot flowering plants. As a monocot, they typically have parallel veins in their leaves. However, as a basal monocot, they diverged early in evolution, so their flowers are atypical for monocots. However, their very small size and dense packing into a spadix, enclosed by a showy spathe, make them easy to recognize in the field.

The Araceae family has always been a favorite of mine, having grown up in the temperate rainforest of the British Columbia coast of western Canada, where skunk cabbage is often found in wet forests and swamps. Most people don’t like the smell, hence the name; however, I love the smell because I love swamps and stinky plants, and when I smell skunk cabbage, odds are there is a swamp for me to explore! I love it so much I even have it tattooed on my back!  

Beginner’s Guide to the Arum (Araceae) Family

If you’re new to plant morphology, this guide is a perfect beginner’s description to learn to identify the Araceae family, with no need to know any scientific jargon. Below is additional information on uses and morphology, as well as pictures to help identify family members and individual species found in North America.

But for researchers or those wanting to learn a more in-depth version, refer to the Scientific Botanical Description below the images for highly detailed scientific descriptions and genus-level distribution data.

Leaves and Stems of the Arum Family

Perennial herbs, shrubs, or vines; some are aquatic plants, some terrestrial, and others grow on trees (epiphytes). They often lack true stems and instead frow from underground corms, rhizomes, or above-ground runners. Leaves are arranged spirally or alternately; most have stalks (petioles) and a base that sheaths or wraps around the plant. Leaves may be simple or compound, and they may contain natural holes. They often contain a milky or watery sap.

Flowers of the Arum Family

Unique tiny flowers densely packed in a cylindrical structure called a spadix are the most characteristic feature of this family, which makes them easy to identify. The spadix is almost always accompanied by a spathe, which is a large leaf-like bract that may be green or brightly colored and may persist or fall off. The flowers often emit strong, foul odors to attract pollinators.

Reproductive Features of the Arum Family

Some species have bisexual flowers with male (stamens) and female (ovary, style, and stigma) parts in the same flower, while others have separate male and female flowers on the same spike (monoecious), usually with males on top and female flowers below. But the flowers are very tiny, and a hand lens would be needed to see any detail.

Fruits of the Arum Family

Fruits are usually fleshy berries with one to several seeds. Occasionally the berries merge into a single compound fruit.

Morphology of Araceae in North America

Some Araceae Species I have Covered So Far in North America

Aroideae Subfamily

Arisaema dracontium—Green Dragon

Herbaceous perennial with one leaf that is compound and divided into two leaflets that are again palmately divided into 5 – 15 leaflets each. Flowers are in a very spadix that sticks out well beyond the sheath, several inches or more. This Araceae member is native to eastern North America, including northeastern Mexico.

Arisaema quinatum or A. triphyllum ssp. quinatum—Southern Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Herbaceous perennial with 3 leaflets per leaf, but the lateral leaflets are deeply 2-lobed, making it look like it has 5 leaflets. Flowers in a spadix enclosed by a fleshy, hooded sheath. Endemic in the southeastern USA, from Texas east to North Carolina.

Arisaema triphyllum – Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Herbaceous perennial with trifoliate compound leaves on long petioles from the ground up. Flowers are in a narrow spadix enclosed by a green or purplish hooded sheath. Flowers are in a thin green spadix that is closed by a hooded sheath. Native to eastern North America.

Arum italicum—Italian Arum

Herbaceous perennial with large, showy, sagittate leaves and a large white or yellow spathe that surrounds its white to reddish spadix. Native to the Mediterranean and cultivated in North America.

Calla palustris—Bog Arum

An aquatic perennial with rounded to cordate leaves, 6 – 10 cm long and nearly as wide, on a 10 – 20 cm petiole. The flowers are enclosed by a white sheath and grow in a greenish-yellow spadix. Fruit is a cluster of red berries. Native to cool, temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere. These plants were found in a roadside ditch in Midland, MI, USA.

Colocasia esculenta—Taro

Herbaceous perennial with an edible corm and large sagittate leaves on long, thick petioles. Spreads vegetatively and rarely flowers. Native to tropical eastern Asia, it has been introduced to North America, where it has become invasive. This was in Hot Springs, AR, USA

Peltandra virginica – Green Arrow Arum

Mostly aquatic herbaceous perennials with large sagittate leaves and pale green to white inflorescences enclosed in a darker-colored spathe. Grows in wet, swampy areas. Native to eastern North America.

Lemnoideae Subfamily

Lemna minor—Common Duckweed

A tiny floating aquatic plant with two (1-4) small leaves and a single free-floating root. It spreads vegetatively, and flowers are rare and inconspicuous. This plant has a cosmopolitan distribution.

Orontioideae Subfamily

Lysichiton americanus—Skunk Cabbage

An herbaceous perennial of wet, soggy soils and swampy areas. It has large sessile ovate leaves and a large yellow spathe encasing a rough greenish-yellow spadix. Has a strong skunky odor. This lovely but often misjudged Araceae member is native to northwest North America.

Pothoideae Subfamily

Anthurium andraeanum – Painter’s Palette

A tropical perennial plant that is often cultivated as a house plant. It has colorful orange to reddish spathes that do not enclose the yellow spadix. It is native to Colombia & Ecuador but widely cultivated as a tropical houseplant.

Uses of the Araceae 

Many Araceae are toxic due to the presence of calcium oxalate crystals, which can irritate the digestive tract when ingested. Despite these concerns, however, many are still important food sources in tropical regions, including Alocasia, Amorphophallus, Colocasia esculenta (taro), Monstera, and Xanthosoma sagittifolium.

Some are used as traditional herbal medicines, or their roots are used for fiber or arrow poisons.

Many genera are cultivated worldwide as ornamentals both outdoors and indoors as houseplants, including Dieffenbachia, Caladium, Philodendron, Zantedeschia, and many more.

The Araceae also include unique plants such as Amorphophallus titanum, which has the most massive inflorescence in all the angiosperms, and Wolffia species, which have the smallest flowers.   

Ecosystem and Wildlife Values of the Araceae 

The berries of the Araceae serve as high-energy food sources for birds who ingest them and disperse the seeds, while neotropical frugivorous bats feed heavily on the fruits of climbing aroids, while numerous terrestrial rodents, mammals, and primates dig and eat the carbohydrate-rich tubers.

Free-floating Lemnoideae are exceptionally protein-rich food sources, providing primary forage for waterfowl, herbivorous fish, semi-aquatic rodents, and aquatic invertebrates.

Many large-spathed genera produce thermogenic heat to volatilize foul scent compounds, which creates a warm microclimate that traps and sustains pollinating beetles and flies overnight.

Taxonomy of Araceae

There are approximately 3,667 to 6,500 species in the Araceae family across 143 genera and currently eight accepted subfamilies, which are undergoing revisions and may change in the future. This family is part of the Alismatales order, which is considered a basal monocot and diverged early in monocot evolution. 

Aroideae Subfamily

The Aroideae have highly variable growth forms, making generalizations difficult. But they are unisexual, typically monoecious plants with flowers that lack a perianth. They have tiny staminate flowers with connate stamens or free stamens with a thick connective found at the top of the spadix. Their pistillate flowers are found below the staminate ones on the spadix, and they often have staminodes. Their distribution is cosmopolitan.

Adelonema (16), Aglaodorum (1), Aglaonema (26), Alocasia (91), Ambrosina (1), Amorphophallus (246), Anchomanes (6), Anubias (8), Apoballis (14), Aridarum (5), Ariopsis (3), Arisaema (224), Arisarum (3), Arophyton (7), Arum (26), Asterostigma (8), Bakoa (1), Bidayuha (1), Bakoaella (2), Biarum (24), Bognera (1), Boycea (1), Bucephalandra (32), Burttianthus (9), Caladium (19), Calla (1), Callopsis (1), Carlephyton (5), Cercestis (11), Chlorospatha (70), Colletogyne (1), Colobogynium (1), Colocasia (15), Cryptocoryne (78), Culcasia (27), Dieffenbachia (60), Dracunculus (2), Eminium (8), Fenestratarum (2), Filarum (1), Galantharum (1), Gamogyne (6), Gearum (1), Gorgonidium (8), Gosong (1), Hapaline (9), Hayarum (1), Helicodiceros (1), Hera (1), Heteroaridarum (3), Homalomena (177), Hottarum (1), Idimanthus (1), Incarum (1 Not in APG), Jasarum (1), Josefia (1), Kiewia (3), Lagenandra (24), Lazarum (1-16?), Leucocasia (1), Lorenzia (1), Mangonia (2), Montrichardia (2), Nabalu (1), Naiadia (1), Nephthytis (5), Ooia (12), Peltandra (2), Philodendron (626), Philonotion (3), Phymatarum (1), Pichinia (1), Pinellia (11), Piptospatha (3), Pistia (1), Protarum (1), Pseudohydrosme (3), Purseglovia (?), Remusatia (4), Rhynchopyle (7), Sauromatum (11), Scaphispatha (2), Schismatoglottis (97), Schottariella (1), Schottarum (3), Spathantheum (1), Spathicarpa (3), Steudnera (11), Synandrospadix (1), Syngonium (41), Taccarum (6), Tawaia (1), Theriophonum (6), Toga (6), Typhonium (79), Typhonodorum (1), Ulearum (2), Vesta (1), Vietnamocasia (1), Xanthosoma (199), Zantedeschia (8), Zomicarpa (2), Zomicarpella (2).

Gymnostachydoideae Subfamily

The Gymnostachyoideae are the earliest-diverging sister lineage to other Araceae. It is a monospecific family with leaves that are two-ranked and linear and parallel-veined, with minute teeth, especially near the tip, and there is no distinction between the blade and petiole. Unlike other Araceae, it produces bisexual flowers possessing a perianth and arranged in numerous spicate spadices subtended by small, leafy bracts in a large branched inflorescence. These are restricted to eastern Australia. 

Gymnostachys (1).

Lasioideae Subfamily

The Lasioideae are often robust, prickly, rooted aquatic or perennial herbs. Their petioles are long, warty, aculeate, or brightly colored, and their spathe is often spirally twisted. Their flowers may or may not have a perianth, and they have variable stamens, usually 4-6 but up to 12, with broad, short filaments and extrorse anthers with short apical or oblique pore-like slits. They are found pantropically. 

Anaphyllopsis (3), Anaphyllum (2), Cyrtosperma (15), Dracontioides (2), Dracontium (30), Lasia (2), Lasimorpha (1), Podolasia (1), Pycnospatha (2), Urospatha (13).  

Lemnoideae Subfamily

The Lemnoideae are all highly reduced, small, floating aquatic herbs with 0-5 unbranched hairless roots. They are made of thalloid stem-leaf units that possess only a primary vein without any vascular tissue. They have no perianth and possess only one stamen and one gynoecium. They have a cosmopolitan distribution.

Landoltia (1-2?), Lemna (~13), Spirodela (4), Wolffia (11), and Wolffiella (10).

Monsteroideae Subfamily

The Monsteroideae are herbs, climbers, and epiphytes. Their flowers are bisexual, the pollen is inaperturate, the style has abundant trichosclereids, and ovules (1-4, -many) per carpel are often basal or sometimes hemianatropous. Most members lack a perianth, but some retain one. Their distribution is pantropical. 

Alloschemone (2), Amydrium (5), Anadendrum (15), Epipremnum (15), Heteropsis (19), Monstera (73), Rhaphidophora (105), Rhodospatha (45), Scindapsus (36), Spathiphyllum (76), and Stenospermation (58).

Orontioideae Subfamily

The Orontioideae subfamily is a variable group that has no vessels, possesses biforine raphides (exc. Lysichiton), has leaf blades with a midrib (exc. Orontium), and has bisexual flowers with usually inferior ovaries (exc. Orontium), a perianth of tepals, and may or may not have styles. Their distribution is north temperate. 

Lysichiton (2), Orontium (1), and Symplocarpus (6).

Pothoideae Subfamily

The Potthoideae have a flat, strap-shaped, or reflexed spathe that does not enclose the spadix and is persistent in the fruit, and they may have winged, flattened, photosynthetic petioles that may dwarf the leaf blade. They have bisexual flowers with usually 4 tepals in 2 whorls, 4 free stamens with flattened filaments, and the ovules are basally or parietally placentated. Distribution is pantropical, excluding Africa. 

Anthurium (1459), Pothoidium (1), and Pothos (66).

Zamioculcadoideae Subfamily

The Zamioculcadoideae are rhizomatous or tuberous plants with leaves that are usually 1-3-compound or simple in Stylochaeton. Leaf fine venation is reticulate, and the leaves are characteristically pulvinate along the petiole or petiolules. They are monoecious, having staminate and pistillate flowers on the same spadix. Placentation of ovules is axile, and there is one ascending ovule per carpel. Their native distribution is restricted to Africa.  

Gonatopus (5), Stylochaeton (22), and Zamioculcas (1).

Key Differences From Similar Families

The Araceae are easily differentiated from similar families with their spadix of numerous small flowers with their unique subtending spathes, their leaves with either parallel or netted venation (unlike only parallel in most monocots), their raphide crystals, and their seeds with endosperm.     

The Acoraceae (sweet flags) were formerly placed in this family, but they can be differentiated by their unifacial, ensiform leaves, parallel venation, aromatic essential oils, and the lack of calcium oxalate raphide crystals.

The Alismataceae share the same aquatic habitats and sometimes sagittate leaves with reticulate venation, but they possess distinct 3-merous showy flowers with perianths, and they are not arranged in dense, fleshy spadices.

Scientific Botanical Description of the Araceae

Habit & Leaf Form of the Araceae

The Araceae are perennial herbs, shrubs, or vines that may be aquatic or terrestrial, emergent or floating, or epiphytic. They grow from vertical or horizontal rhizomes that may or may not be branched, starchy underground corms, or stolons found at or near the surface. Roots are often mycorrhizal and have no root hairs. They usually do not possess typical stems, but some taxa do. Plants always have calcium oxalate crystals or raphides and have laticifers that produce a milky, watery, or rarely colored latex.

Leaves may appear before or after the inflorescence, and cataphylls are often seen. Leaves are alternate, bifacial, spiral, distichous, or rarely solitary. A petiole is almost always present, and bases are sheathing with a membranous sheath. The leaf blade is simple or compound and sometimes is perforated or fenestrated. Leaf shape is elliptic to obovate or spatulate and sometimes sagittate–cordate. Venation can be parallel, pinnate-netted, or palmate-netted. 

Flowers of the Araceae

Araceae plants are often monoecious and may be hermaphroditic or rarely dioecious. The inflorescence is characteristic of the family, with a terminal cylindrical or ovoid spadix on a peduncle bearing 3-900 sessile flowers that are very tightly packed together. When monoecious, the male flowers appear on the upper part of the spadix, with the female flowers below.

The spadix is almost always subtended by a persistent or deciduous spathe that is often colored. In the Lemnoideae, the spadix is reduced to 1–4 flowers, which are in a pouch.

Flowers are small, sessile, actinomorphic, ebracteate, hypogynous with superior ovaries (except in Orontioidiae, where the ovaries may be inferior or semi-inferior), and often possess a strong odor that most find unpleasant.

The perianth is usually only present in bisexual flowers, while most monoecious flowers and some bisexual flowers in the Monsteroideae are lacking perianth altogether. When present, the perianth is 2-whorled with 4-6 (rarely up to 9) parts that may be free or basally joined.  

Androecium of the Araceae

The androecium has 4, 6, or 8 (1-32) members arranged opposite the tepals in flowers that possess a perianth. Stamens may or may not all be fertile; staminodes are often present and serve structural or secretory roles. Stamens may be free or connate in Synandria.

Anthers are often subsessile with short, flattened, or nearly absent filaments and a thick and fleshy connective tissue. Dehiscence is poricidal, longitudinal, or transverse. 

Gynoecium of the Araceae

The gynoecium is syncarpous with one ovary that is 1-3 (or many) locular and may be sessile or embedded in the spadix. The ovary is usually superior with as many locules as carpels (no false septa), except when embedded in the spadix.

There is usually one short, stout style (sometimes absent) with a hemispheric, capitate, or discoid stigma that is sometimes strongly lobed. Placentation is highly variable and helps differentiate at the subfamily and tribe level and may be parietal, axile, basal, or apical. Ovules are one to many per carpel and are usually anatropous and bitegmic.  

Fruit of the Araceae

The fruits of the Araceae are one- to many-seeded indehiscent berries that may be distinct or, less often, connate in a syncarp. Rarely do the fruits form as dehiscent berries via a stylar plate.

Seeds are variable in shape, may or may not possess endosperm, are oily and sometimes starchy, and sometimes have a fleshy seed coat.

Global Distribution of Araceae

The Araceae are most diverse in the neotropics of the Americas, but they are also found in the Old World tropics and in temperate regions, especially in the northern temperate zones.

Distribution of Araceae in the Americas

Canadian Araceae Genera:

Aroideae: Arisaema 2 spp. native to MB, ON, QC, NB, NS, and PE; Arum 1 sp. intro to BC; Calla 1 pan-north temperate sp native to all of Canada except NT; Peltandra 1 E NAM (+Cuba) endemic sp. native to ON and QC; Pinellia 1 sp. ephemeral intro ON; Pistia 1 pantropical sp. intro to ON.

Lemnoideae: Lemna 6 of 18 cosmopolitan spp. native to all of Canada except NF, where it was introduced; Spirodela 1 cosmopolitan sp. native to BC, AB, SK, MB, ON, QC, NB, NS, and PE; Wolffia 4 cosmopolitan spp., including 3 native to BC, AB, SK, MB, ON, QC, and NB and 1 intro in ON.

Orontioideae: Lysichiton 1 sp. native to BC; Symplocarpus 1 E NAM endemic sp. native to ON, QC, NB, and NS.

USA Araceae Genera:

Aroideae: Aglaonema 1 sp. intro to FL; Alocasia 1 sp. intro to FL, TX, and HI; Arisaema 2 spp. native to the E USA from ND S to TX and all states E of that; Arum 2 spp. intro to WA, OR, CA, MO, IL, VI, and SC; Caladium 1 sp. intro to LA and FL; Calla 1 pan-north temperate sp native ND, MN, IA, WI, IL, IN, MI, OH, PA, MD, NJ, NY, CT, RI, MA, VT, NH, and ME; Colocasia 1 sp. intro to TX, LA, MS, AL, GA, FL, SC, NC, PA, and HI; Cryptocoryne 1 sp. intro to TX and FL; Dracunculus 1 sp. intro to OR, CA, and TN; Epipremnum 1 sp. intro to FL, HI, Virgin Is., and Puerto Rico; Peltandra 2 E NAM (+Cuba) spp. native KS S to TX plus E USA from MN S to LA and all states east, including 1 endemic to SE USA, also intro in OR and CA; Philodendron 1 sp. intro to FL and HI; Pinellia 1 sp. intro to CA, OH, WV, MD, NJ, PA, NY, and CT; Pistia monospecific pantropical sp. native to CA, AZ, CO, KA, TX, MO, LA, MS, GA, FL, SC, NC, OH, MD, DE, NY, NJ, and CT; Syngonium 1 sp. intro to FL; Xanthosoma 2 spp. intro to TX, FL, and HI; Zantedeschia 2 spp. intro to CA, OR, PA, and HI.

Lasioideae: Dracontium 1 sp. native to Peurto Rico.

Lemnoideae: Lemna 9 spp. native throughout the entire USA, including AK and HI; Spirodela 2 cosmopolitan spp. native throughout the entire continental USA and HI; Wolffia 7 cosmopolitan spp. native to most of the USA except NV, AZ, NM, and CO; Wolffiella 5 cosmopolitan spp. native to WA, CA, TX, OK, MO, AR, LA, IL, IN, OH, KY, TN, MS, AL, GA, FL, SC, NC, VA, PA, NJ, and MA.

Monsteroideae: Epipremnum 1 sp. intro to FL and HI.

Orontioideae: Lysichiton 1 sp. native to AK, WA, OR, CA, ID, MT, and WY; Orontium monospecific SE USA endemic sp. native from TX E to FL, N to KY, MA, and RI; Symplocarpus 1 E NAM endemic sp. native to MN, IA, WI, IL, IN, OH, KY, TN, NC, VI, WV, MI, PA, MD, DE, NJ, NY, CT, RI, MA, VT, NH, and ME.

Mexico Araceae Genera:

Aroideae: Aglaonema 1 sp. intro to NL, Sin, Jal, Son, Ver, Gro, Chi, Tab, and Cam; Alocasia 5 spp. intro from Sin E to Coa and all S Mexico; Arisaema 5 spp. native and including 1 intro in Sin, NL, Nay, Tam, SLP, Jal, Col, Mic, Mex, Pue, Gro, Ver, Oax, and Chi; Arum 1 sp. intro to NL, Jal, and Mex; Dieffenbachia 2 spp. native from Sin to S NL and all through S Mexico; Dracunculus 1 sp. intro to Chi, Cam; Leucocasia 1 sp. intro to Jal and Pue; Peltandra 1 sp. intro Tlx; Philodendron ~44-46 spp. native and some intro throughout all of Mexico; Pinellia 1 sp. intro Mex; Pistia monospecific pantropical sp. native throughout Mexico; Syngonium 9 neo spp. native BCS, Sin E to NL, and all through S Mexico; Typhonium 1 sp. intro to Oax, Pue, Ver, Chi, and SLP; Xanthosoma 8 neotropical spp. native most of Mexico exccept north-central and northeast; Zantedeschia 1 sp. intro to Mex.

Lasioideae: Dracontium 1 sp. a narrow endemic of SW Chi.

Lemnoideae: Lemna 7 spp. native throughout all of Mexico; Spirodela 1 sp. native throughout all of Mexico; Wolffia 2 cosmopolitan spp. native in Jal, Nay, Gto, Chi, Mex, Qro, Mor, and Cd Mex; Wolffiella 4 cosmopolitan spp. native to NE+C+SE Mexico.

Monsteroideae: Monstera 13 neoendemic spp. native Sin E to NL and all through S Mexico, but primarily in the tropical south; Rhodospatha 1 neo sp. native to Ver and Chi; Spathiphyllum 5 spp. including 4 native and 1 intro to Nay E to Ver and all of S Mexico, including 1 endemic to SE Mexico.

Pothoideae: Anthurium 31 spp. native (and 1 intro) from Sin to S NL and throughout S Mexico.

Zamioculcadoideae: Zamioculcas 1 sp. intro QR.

Neotropical Araceae Genera:

Aroideae: Adelonema 16 neoendemic spp. native to Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, N Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname; Aglaonema 1 sp. intro to Cuba, Puerto Rico, Trinidad-Tobago, and Venezuelan Antilles; Alocasia 5 spp. intro to Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Leeward & Windward Is., Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuelan Antilles, NE Brazil, Venezuela, Paraguay, and Galapagos; Amorphophallus 1 sp. intro Trinidad-Tobago; Arum 1 sp. intro to NE Argentina; Asterostigma 8 W SAM endemic spp. native to most of brazil and in NE Argentina; Bognera monospecific endemic to N Brazil; Caladium 19 neoendemic spp. native from Honduras S to Peru, NW Argentina, Brazil, and to Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Leeward & Windward Is., Venezuelan Antilles, and Trinidad-Tobago; Chlorospatha 70 neoendemic spp. native to Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador; Colocasia 2 spp. introduced to Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Leeward & Windward Is, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuelan Antilles, Galapagos, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay; Dieffenbachia 60 neoendemic spp. native from S Mexico S through to Peru, Bolivia, NE Argentina (except Uruguay), and including all of the West Indies; Epipremnum 1 sp. intro to Bermuda, Honduras, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuelan Antilles, and Leeward and Windward Is.; Filarum monospecific endemic to Peru; Gearum monospecific endemic to N+C Brazil; Gorgonidium 8 SAM endemic spp. native to Peru, Bolivia, and N Argentina; Idimanthus monospecific narrow endemic to SE Brazil; Incarum 1 W SAM endemic sp. native to Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia (NOT listed in APG); Jasarum 1 N SAM endemic sp. native to Venezuela and Guyana; Lorenzia monospecific endemic to N Brazil; Mangonia 2 E SAM endemic spp. native to S Brazil and Uruguay; Montrichardia 2 neoendemic spp. native to Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua S to Peru, Bolivia, N+SE Brazil, Trinidad-Tobago, and the Leeward & Windward Is.; Peltandra 1 E NAM sp. native to Cuba; Philodendron ~600 neoendemic spp. native throughout CAM, the West Indies, and N SAM S to Bolivia, NE Argentina, and S Brazil (excluding Uruguay); Philonotion 3 N SAM endemic spp. native to Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, N Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia (listed as syn. of Schismatoglottis in APG??); Pistia monospecific pantropical sp. native throughout CAM, the West Indies, and SAM S to Peru, Bolivia, and NE Argentina; Scaphispatha 2 N SAM endemic spp. native to most of Brazil and Bolivia; Spathantheum monospecific W. SAM endemic sp. of Peru, Bolivia, and NW Argentina; Spathicarpa 3 E SAM endemic spp. native to Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, NE Argentina, and Uruguay; Synandrospadix monospecific endemic to Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, and NW Argentina; Syngonium 41 Mexico + neoendemic spp. native from Mexico S to Peru, Bolivia, C+SE Brazil, Greater Antilles, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuelan Antilles, and intro S Brazil, Bahamas, Netherland Antilles, Leeward & Windward Is.; Taccarum 6 SAM endemic spp. of Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, and NE Argentina; Typhonium 1 sp. intro to NE+S Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad-Tobago, and Windward Is.; Ulearum 2 N SAM endemic spp. of N Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru; Xanthosoma ~140 spp. native from Mexico S through to Peru, NW Argentina, Paraguay, S Brazil (exc El Salvador), plus Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Leeward & Windward Is., Trinidad-Tobago, and is intro to Galapagos, Jamaica, Venezuelan Antilles, and Cayman Is.; Zantedeschia 1 sp. intro to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, NE Brazil, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Trinidad-Tobago; Zomicarpa 2 narrow endemic spp. of NE Brazil; Zomicarpella 2 N SAM endemic spp. of Colombia, N Brazil, and Peru.

Lasioideae: Anaphyllopsis 3 N SAM endemic spp. native Venezuela, French Guiana, Suriname, and N Brazil; Dracontioides 2 spp. endemic to NE+SE Brazil; Dracontium 29 neoendemic spp. native to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Trinidad-Tobago, Windward Is., and from Nicaragua S to Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, and C+SE Brazil; Urospatha 13 neoendemic spp. native to Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua S to Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, and C+SE Brazil.

Lemnoideae: Lemna 4 spp. native throughout the entire Neotropical zone S to C Chile, Argentina; Spirodela 3 spp. including 2 native and 1 intro throughout all of Neo zone except Guyana, French Guiana, Galapagos, and N Chile; Wolffia 5 cosmopolitan spp., including 3 native (includes 1 endemic to Colombia) and 2 intro found in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Greater & Lesser Antilles (except Venezuelan Antilles), Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Suriname, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, C Chile, and NE+NW Argentina; Wolffiella 5 cosmopolitan spp. native to Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica S to C Chile, N Argentina (exc N Chile), plus Greater Antilles, Leeward & Windward Is, and Trinidad-Tobago.

Monsteroideae: Alloschemone 2 N SAM endemic spp. native to N Brazil and Bolivia; Epipremnum 1 sp. intro to Bermuda, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Trinidad-Tobago, Leeward & Windward Is., Venezuelan Antilles, Colombia, Ecuador, Suriname, and E Brazil; Heteropsis 19 neoendemic spp. native from Nicaragua S to Peru, Bolivia, N Brazil, plus NE+S+SE Brazil; Monstera 73 former neoendemic spp. native from S Mexico S through to Peru, Bolivia, C+S Brazil, Leeward & Windward Is., Netherlands Antilles, and intro to Puerto Rico; Rhodospatha 45 neoendemic spp. native from S Mexico S through CAM (except El Salvador) and N SAM to Peru, Bolivia, N+SE Brazil, and Trinidad-Tobago; Spathiphyllum ~60 spp. native from S Mexico S through CAM and N SAM to Peru, N+C+SE Brazil, Trinidad-Tobago, and intro to Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Venezuelan Antilles; Stenospermation 58 neoendemic spp. native to Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua S to Peru, Bolivia, N Brazil, plus disjunct in SE Brazil.

Pothoideae: Anthurium 1459 neoendemic spp. native from Mexico all the way south through to Peru, Bolivia, and NE Argentina (except Uruguay) plus all throughout the West Indies (excluding the Bahamas).

Patagonia Araceae Genera:

Lemnoideae: Lemna 1 sp. native to SE Argentina; Spirodela 1 cosmopolitan sp. native to SE Argentina and C. Chile; Wolffiella 1 cosmopolitan sp. native to SE Argentina.        

Additional Information and References

• Visit Lyrae’s Dictionary of Botanical Terms to learn the terminology of botanists. Note that if you hover over most of the words in the articles, you can also get definitions from them there.
• Willis, Lyrae (Unpublished). Plant Families of North America. This is where all of the family descriptions come from. Below should be most of my references for this, but also a lot comes from my own observations of North American species.
• Canadensys: Acadia University, Université de Montréal Biodiversity Centre, University of Toronto Mississauga, University of British Columbia. http://data.canadensys.net/explorer (accessed 2020 – current)
• Flora of North America (FNA) (1993+). https://floranorthamerica.org/Main_Page.
• Delta: Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. (1992+). The Families of Flowering Plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 2nd May 2020. delta-intkey.com. Accessed spring through fall of 2020.
• Naturalista: CONABIO http://www.naturalista.mx (Accessed 2020–current).
• Neotropikey: Milliken, W., Klitgård, B., & Baracat, A. eds. (2009 onwards). Neotropikey: Interactive key and information resources for flowering plants of the Neotropics. www.kew.org/neotropikey.com (accessed 2020 – current).
• Patagonia Wildflowers: Wildflower Identification Site. https://patagoniawildflowers.org/ Accessed throughout the fall of 2020.
• POWO (2019). Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/ Retrieved Winter 2020 – present.
• USDA, NRCS. 2020. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 2 June 2020). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC, USA; accessed throughout fall of 2020.
• WFO (2022): World Flora Online. Published on the Internet: http://www.worldfloraonline.org. Accessed Spring 2022 – current

My Current Plant Family Education Fundraiser

I am currently seeking funding to expand my website and SEO capabilities as I keep adding new families, and I am also looking to invest in a new macro lens, as I will soon be adding floral dissections to the families as they become available to me. You can donate to help support native plant education using the GoFundMe link, also at the bottom of the page.

Copyright Information

The information and the photos on this site are free to use for educational purposes, with proper attribution. For other uses, please contact me first.

You can cite this site as follows: Willis, Lyrae (2020+). Lyrae’s Nature Blog – Plant Families of North America. https://lyraenatureblog.com/. Accessed [Enter Date].