Araceae facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Arum family Temporal range: Upper Cretaceous (70 mya) – Recent
Flower of Xanthosoma sagittifolium
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Flowering plants
Class:	Monocots
Order:	Alismatales
Family:	Araceae Juss.
Genera
See text.

Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum cochlearispathum) clearly showing the characteristic spadix and spathe.

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' or leaf-like bract.

Also known as the Arum family, members are often colloquially known as aroid. This family of 107 genera and over 3700 species is most diverse in the New World tropics, although also distributed in the Old World tropics and north temperate regions.

These plants often have rhizomes or tubers with calcium oxalate crystals or 'raphides' and commonly with milky sap. The leaves are alternate, simple or compound, petiolate, sometimes very large, and usually with a sheathing base.

Some genera of araceae include:

• Anthurium
• Dieffenbachia
• Dracunculus
• Monstera
• Philodendron
• Colocasia
• Arum

Images for kids

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  The cuckoo-pint or lords and ladies (Arum maculatum) is a common arum in British woodlands.

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  Arisaema triphyllum

See also

In Spanish: Araceae para niños