? Caladium
Fancy-leaved caladium
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Alismatales Family: Araceae Genus: Caladium
Species
See text.

Caladium is a genus of plants of the family Araceae. They are often known by the common name elephant ear, which they share with the closely related genera Alocasia, Colocasia, and Xanthosoma. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (913x532, 192 KB)Caladiums Brandywine and Scarlet Pimpernel Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms (as opposed to folk taxonomy). ... Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... Classes Magnoliopsida- Dicots Liliopsida- Monocots The flowering plants (also called angiosperms) are a major group of land plants. ... Liliopsida is the botanical name for a class. ... Families Alismataceae Aponogetonaceae Araceae Butomaceae Cymodoceaceae Hydrocharitaceae Juncaginaceae Limnocharitaceae Posidoniaceae Potamogetonaceae Ruppiaceae Scheuchzeriaceae Tofieldiaceae Zosteraceae The order Alismatales contains the alismatids, a group of monocotyledons (class Liliopsida). ... Genera See text The arums comprise the Family Araceae (including the numerous aroids subfamily): monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. ... Genera See text The arums comprise the Family Araceae (including the numerous aroids subfamily): monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. ... Species See text Alocasia is a genus of broad-leaved rhizomatous or bulbous perennials from the family Araceae. ... Species See text Colocasia is a flowering plant genus with one cotyledon found in tropical Asia. ... Species About 50; see text Xanthosoma is a genus of about 50 species of tropical and sub-tropical arums in the flowering plant family, Araceae, native to tropical America. ...

The genus Caladium includes seven species, which are indigenous to Brazil and to neighboring areas of South America and Central America. They grow in open areas of the forest and on the banks of creeks and go dormant during the dry season. The wild plants grow to 40-90 cm tall, with leaves mostly 15-45 cm long and broad. South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Map of Central America Central America is a central region of the Americas. ... A forest is an area with a high density of trees (or, historically, a wooded function as carbon dioxide sinks, animal habitats, hydrologic flow modulators, and soil conservers, constituting one of the most important aspects of the Earths biosphere. ... In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. ...

Selected species

• Caladium bicolor (syn. C. marmoratum, C. picturatum, C. hortulanum)
• Caladium humboldtii
• Caladium lindenii
• Caladium schomburgkii

In scientific classification, synonymy is the existence of multiple systematic names to label the same organism. ...

Cultivation and uses

Several species are grown as ornamental plants for their large, arrowhead-shaped leaves marked in varying patterns in white, pink, and red (somewhat resembling the unrelated coleus) and have been in cultivation in Europe since the late 1700s. The two forms most widely cultivated are called "fancy-leaved" and "lance-leaved". The former is the more commonly seen and is the traditional caladium of cultivation; the leaves are more heart-shaped. The latter has more lance-head-shaped leaves. Most Caladiums in cultivation grow to about 60 cm high and 60 cm wide, although dwarf varieties are now in cultivation. An ornamental is a plant variety that is grown for its beauty (in its end use), rather than commercial or other value. ... Species About 60 species, including: Solenostemon scutellarioides Solenostemon shirensis Coleus (Solenostemon) is a genus of perennial plants, native to tropical Africa and Asia. ... Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to some dispute as to Europes actual borders. ... Events and trends The Bonneville Slide blocks the Columbia River near the site of present-day Cascade Locks, Oregon with a land bridge 200 feet (60 m) high. ...

Numerous cultivars have been selected, most of them (over 120) derived from C. bicolor. The lance-leaved varieties are also derived from C. schomburgkii. This Osteospermum Pink Whirls is a successful cultivar. ...

Caladiums grow from corms and can be propagated by dividing the tubers. They are hardy only to USDA plant hardiness zone 10; in colder areas, they are typically grown as tender bulbs or as houseplants. A corm is a short, vertical, swollen underground stem of a plant (usually one of the monocots) that serves as a storage organ to enable the plant to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (estivation). ... Plant Hardiness Zone Map Temperature scale of hardiness zones, showing the average annual minimum temperature boundaries for the zones USDA Plant Hardiness Zones are areas in North America categorized according to their lowest winter temperatures. ... Shallot bulbs A bulb is an underground vertical shoot that has modified leaves (or thickened leaf bases) that are used as food storage organs by a dormant plant. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

During their growing season, they need a great deal of water and should not be allowed to dry out. Most varieties prefer partial to full shade, although sun-resistant varieties are now in cultivation. In agriculture, the growing season is the period of each year when crops can be grown. ...

In temperate areas, they should be lifted before the first frost. The corms are dried and stored for the winter when temperatures fall to 18º C, and stored moderately dry (not bone-dry) over the winter at temperatures between 13 °C and 16 °C.

All parts of the plant are poisonous. They should not be ingested and may irritate sensitive skin. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

External links

• Brochure on cultivation from the University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service (PDF file)