Anthurium scandens is a species of plant in the genus Anthurium. Native from Mexico to Southeast Brazil, it is the most widely distributed species of Anthurium in the Americas, and also extends to the Caribbean including Haiti, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and other nations.[2][1]

Anthurium scandens
A. scandens in the Berlin Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum
Anthurium scandens (Aubl.) Engl. cultivated in the Botanical Garden of the University of Regensburg
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Alismatales
Family: Araceae
Genus: Anthurium
Species:
A. scandens
Binomial name
Anthurium scandens
(Aubl.) Engl.
Synonyms[1]

Dracontium scandens Aubl.

An epiphyte with green, elliptical foliage and white berries, its botanical name refers to its scandent (i.e. climbing) growth habit. It is the most common and variable species in the genus with a number of subspecies across its range.[3] It is most often confused with Anthurium trinerve, but can be distinguished by the fact that its spathe is reflexed when flowering, whereas on A. trinerve it stays erect.[2] In some areas the plant is used medicinally as folk medicine from a tincture prepared from its roots.[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Anthurium scandens (Aubl.) Engl". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b T.b, Croat (1983). "A revision of the genus Anthurium (Araceae) of Mexico and Central America. I. Mexico and Middle America [Description, new taxa]". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden: 2, 180–181. ISSN 0026-6493.
  3. ^ Deni Bown (2000), Aroids: Plants of the Arum Family, Timber Press, pp. 70, 210, ISBN 978-0-88192-485-5
  4. ^ Quattrocchi, Umberto (2016-04-19). CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology (5 Volume Set). CRC Press. p. 329. ISBN 978-1-4822-5064-0.