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Arum family🌿
Araceae
サトイモ科
A large family including taro, skunk cabbage, calla lilies, and Monstera. The most distinctive feature is the combination of a spathe (large bract) and spadix (fleshy spike inflorescence). Approximately 140 genera and 3,750 species are known.
Key Characteristics
- ●Spathe (large bract) and spadix (fleshy spike inflorescence)
- ●Many species are toxic (calcium oxalate crystals, etc.)
- ●Highly variable leaf shapes (cordate, lobed, broad, etc.)
- ●Center of diversity in the tropics
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Simple / Compound
Venation
Parallel / Pinnate / Palmate
Leaf margin
Entire
Growth form
Shrub / Tree / Herb
Evergreen/Deciduous
Deciduous
Latex
Present / Absent
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic / Zygomorphic
Petal count
4 petals / 6 petals / Many / No petals
Ovary position
Superior
Plant sex
Dioecious / Hermaphrodite / Monoecious
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Monocots > Alismatales > Araceae
Divergence Era
Late Cretaceous
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・Evolution of insect-attracting mechanisms via the spathe
- ・Evolution of thermogenesis in the spadix