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Monsteras and more: at home with arums

Tropical members of the arum family are among the most diverse and finest of all house plants – easy to grow, shade tolerant and boasting exotic, even unearthly, good looks 

In the wild, most aroids (arum family members) live in tropical forests. To see them you'd have to search dimly-lit forest floors or look up to see vines climbing trees or epiphytes in the canopy. These three niches are home to the majority of the 3,700 plus species making up the splendidly exotic, notably diverse Araceae family.

Some aroids are hardy enough to survive in temperate climes; Arum italicumArisaema and British native lords-and-ladies (Arum maculatum) to name a few. When you look at their flowers, their relation to tropical species becomes obvious. Botanically, these are inflorescences, made up of many tiny individual flowers, and their distinctive structure defines aroids (see box, below).

Many tropical aroids make handsome and amenable long-term houseplants; they can be divided into those grown mainly for their blooms, and those grown for foliage. 

Alocasias, devil's ivy and peace lilies make a colourful and long-lasting display

Flowering aroids

If you have a peace lily (Spathiphyllum), calla lily (Zantedeschia) or flamingo flower (Anthurium), you already grow a tropical aroid. All show characteristic spadix and spathe inflorescences and are stylish additions to the home. Peace lily blooms are white, but breeding work in the other genera is producing spathes in an ever-widening colour range.

Flamboyant flamingoes

Anthuriums have bright, long-lasting blooms
Darker-flowered varieties can make a dramatic statement
Flamingo flowers (Anthurium) – have spathes in white, red, pink, green, chocolate-brown and purple, all easy to grow in bright but indirect light. Spathe shape varies from round to teardrop-shaped, with a crinkled texture in some cultivars. Foliage is usually glossy and arrowhead-shaped. Most are complex hybrids from Central American Anthurium andraeanum, hence Andraeanum Group. Typically plants reach 60cm in height and width, but there are more compact ones half this size, such as purple-flowered Zizou (‘Anthevex’). Anthurium crystallinum is an epiphytic species grown more for its lovely leaves – heart shaped and dark green with paler veining – than its greenish flowers. It can climb to 50cm. Anthuriums do best at 16–22°C.

Tough peace lilies

Peace lilies come in a range of sizes
Peace lilies (Spathiphyllum) are among the easiest of all house plants. They send up long-lasting, pure white spathes cupping spiky little cream spadices, above glossy, elongated leaves. Most widely grown is S. wallisii; its cultivar ‘Bellini’  is compact, to 45cm. By contrast, spectacular Spathiphyllum ‘Mauna Loa Supreme’ is a giant of a plant, with broad, glossy leaves forming a clump at least 1m across. All are similarly easy to care for: 18–24°C is ideal.

Colourful callas

'Red Alert'
'Captain Promise'
Calla lilies (Zantedeschia) hybrids: relatives of white-flowered arum lily (Z. aethiopica), compact and colourful calla lilies have Z. elliottiana and Z. rehmannii in their ancestry. Breeding work has produced an explosion of new hybrids in yellow, pink, red, purple, orange and near black, plus pastel bicolours, some delicately vertically striped. Some show marked colour changes as spathes age, and flecked foliage. Callas can also do well outdoors used as bedding plants in summer. A good rich yellow-flowered selection is ‘Summer Sun’ while ‘Picasso’ has cream and purple spathes (plants reach 60cm). Store dry tubers frost free over winter, or keep in growth indoors above 10°C.

What makes an aroid?

The definitive feature of the Araceae family is their compound flowers, or inflorescences; each bloom is made up of many tiny flowers.

Aroid inflorescences are formed of a fleshy central column (a spadix) of many tightly packed flowers.

A spadix is usually surrounded by a brightly-coloured spathe (a highly modified leaf). Not all aroid species have spathes, but all have spadices.

A family portrait

1) Spathicarpa hastifolia 2) Zantedeschia 'Summer Sun' 3) Monstera 'Monkey Mask 4) Alocasia x amazonica 'Polly' 5) Zamioculcas zamiifolia 'Raven' 6) Dieffenbachia 'Reflector' 7) Syngonium podophyllum 'Neon Robusta' 8) Anthurium (Andreanum Group) 9) Anthurium crystallinum 10) Alocasia lauterbachiana 11) Spathiphyllum wallisii 'Bellini' 12) Epipremnum aureum 'Neon' 13) Anthurium 'Zizou' 14) Aglaonema 'King of Siam'

Foliage aroids

Many aroids are grown primarily for their foliage and will grow well in dimly-lit corners few other house plants can tolerate. They can cope with irregular watering and put up with dry indoor air, making them among the most useful and lowest-maintenance of all indoor plants.

Elephant's ears – striking veins

Truly tropical, these plants enjoy maximum warmth and humidity
Alocasias, some of which are large-leaved plants known as elephant’s ears, prefer warm, humid conditions, regular misting and good but indirect light. Alocasia × amazonica ‘Polly’ has striking pale veining on dark green, spearhead-shaped leaves to 30cm long; minimum 16°C. Alocasia lauterbachiana is a handsome plant with narrow, upright, wavy-edged leaves, undersides and stems a contrasting red. Grows to 1.5m; ideal temperatures are 20–25°C; keep above 15°C.

Dumb cane – pretty patterns

Dumb cane has delightfully patterned leaves
Dieffenbachia: dumb cane or leopard lily has long been a popular houseplant. Typically, cultivars have fresh green leaves striped and splashed with cream or white; D. ‘Reflector’ is more spotted than striped, in pale green on a darker green leaf than most. Min 15°C; prefers between 18 and 25°C.

A great beginner plant: devil's ivy

Easy-going and bright, devil's ivy earns its keep
Epipremnum (devil’s ivy) is a climbing vine that will trail attractively, or grow up a moss pole. Also known as Ceylon creeper, it is extremely tough and shade tolerant. It is an excellent plant for beginners or for brightening dark corners. Epipremnum aureum has irregular yellow variegation on green, heart-shaped leaves, but those of Epipremnum aureum ‘Neon’ emerge solid bright gold, ageing to unvariegated pale green. To 1.8m in pots; keep above 15°C.

Bold and beautiful monsteras

Swiss cheese plants have distinctively shaped leaves
Monstera contains the undisputed heavyweight champion of the indoor garden: M. deliciosa (Swiss cheese plant). Large, well-grown specimens can single-handedly transport a room to the tropics. The biggest, most perforated leaves will be on mature plants grown in good light and high humidity. A far more compact relation, usually sold as ‘Monkey Mask’ also has holes in the leaves, but these do not reach the leaf margins as in M. deliciosa. The look is lacy, unusual and attractive. ‘Monkey Mask’ likes high humidity and bright light; ideally 15–18°C during the day and 12°C at night. Can climb to 1m given support, or let it trail.

Grow something different – philodendron

Less commonly seen than Swiss cheese plants, philodendrons are equally dramatic
Philodendron is a large genus of plants in a wide range of sizes and bold leaf shapes. Some thrive in even the darkest corners. Philodendron bipinnatifidum (tree philodendron; syn. P. selloum) rivals Swiss cheese plants for scale indoors – its huge leaves grow to 1m across. Tree philodendron copes with shade; in a pot it makes around 1.5m. An attractive variegated selection of sweetheart vine that can climb to 4m indoors given support (or let it trail) is P. hederaceum ‘Brasil’, with large, dark green leaves showing variable splashes of yellow. Most philodendrons do well at around 15–20°C.

Sculptural in the shade – the ZZ plant

Come sun or shade, Zamioculcas adds a unique touch to houseplant displays
The ZZ plant or Zamioculcas zamiifolia is a species that marries architectural, glossy green looks with drought tolerance. The upright, pinnate leaves grow to 45–60cm and it even tolerates deep shade. It is best at 18–26°C; minimum 15°C. Zamioculcas zamiifolia Raven (‘Dowon’) is aptly named for its dark purple to near-black, gothic foliage. Every plant was micropropagated from a single leaf mutation on a plant on a South Korean nursery in 2006, but not introduced until 2017. New leaves emerge green, turning dark over six to eight weeks, even when grown in shade.

Aroids include some of the most dramatic plants we grow indoors. Some are true jungle giants and need space, but even a shaded windowsill can offer some smaller ones a home.


This article first appeared in the January 2020 issue of The Garden magazine – an exclusive monthly publication for members of the RHS. 

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