Aglaonema marantifolium
Aglaonema marantifolium is a tropical plant in the arum family, Araceae. Its native range extends from Maluku to New Guinea. Kew recognises it as a species and describes its growth form as a subshrub of wet tropical environments.[1]
Appearance
The stems stand upright but can lean over in larger plants. The plain green, leathery leaves are usually 25–33 centimetres long. The small flowers are carried on a short fleshy spike, the spadix, surrounded by a longer green sheath, the spathe. Ripe fruits are bright red.[2]
Hay's New Guinea account describes separate male and female flowers on the same spike: a few female flowers sit below a mass of male flowers. Each fleshy fruit contains one large seed.[3]
Habitat
The plant occupies damp, shaded lowland forest. Nicolson found no clear flowering season.[2] Hay also records lower montane habitats, forest regrowth and occasional abundance in plantations, including at Bulolo in Papua New Guinea's Morobe Province.[3]
Botanical name
Blume published the name in 1837. Kew lists Aglaonema novoguineense, Caladium marantifolium, Calla oblongifolia and Scindapsus erectus as synonyms.[1]
Nicolson selected a specimen collected by Zippel on Ambon as the reference specimen for the name. His revision also rejected the supposed leaf-vein differences used to separate A. novoguineense.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Aglaonema marantifolium Blume. Plants of the World Online. Accessed 9 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nicolson, D. H. (1969). A revision of the genus Aglaonema (Araceae). Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 1, pp. 47–49; doi:10.5479/si.0081024X.1. Accessed 9 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hay, A. (1990). Aroids of Papua New Guinea. Christensen Research Institute, Madang; Aglaonema account. Accessed 9 October 2026.