Epipremium aureum.
Family Araceae.
Known as Devil’s ivy or Ivy arum plus numerous other names.
It is naturalised in Australia and is a common garden or indoor plant.
It grows as a vine 10 to 20 m high or as a widely spreading ground cover.
Stems, 4 cm thick in old plants, have numerous aerial roots that support it when climbing.
The green stems have large scars from leaf bases and pale or orange stripes.
Leaves have long petioles that have a groove on the upper surface.
The green sheaths protecting the developing leaf become brown and papery.
Leaves are alternate and heart-shaped.
Juvenile leaves are entire but mature ones become deeply lobed or pinnatifid.
Mature leaves are often around 20 to 30 cm long but can be more on tall vines.
Leaf blades are green with yellow or white variegations that are very variable.
The typical arum type flowers are rarely or never seen in cultivation.
The spathe and spadix are white.
Female flowers, at the base of the spadix, have a dark linear stigma.
Fruits are small orange berries.
There are numerous cultivars including:
- waxy leaves in various shades of green with no markings,
- green leaves with various markings in yellow, white, cream or shades of green,
- cream or white leaves with green markings.
J.F.
