AROIDS 67 



CHAPTER XIII 

 AROIDS 



A NUMBER of species of tropical Aroids are climbers. 

 They form long, rope-like stems which attach themselves 

 to the trunks of trees by means of aerial roots after the 

 manner of Ivy. Some of them are like Ivy, too, in being 

 dimorphic, the strictly climbing stems having comparatively 

 small leaves and clinging quite close to their support, as 

 Ivy does, whilst the later, mature stage of the plant is 

 characterised by large leaves and a less clinging habit. 

 Some of the Philodendrons develop stems a hundred yards 

 long ; they climb to the tops of the highest trees and then, 

 liana-like, extend from tree to tree, their long, string-like, 

 aerial roots often reaching the ground, where they take 

 firm root, and become quite taut. In large tropical houses 

 these climbing Aroids may be turned to excellent account 

 for covering walls or clothing pillars with striking vegeta- 

 tion. Their value for these purposes is displayed in the 

 Aroid House (No. i) and the Palm House at Kew. Here 

 the genera Anthurium, Philodendron, Epipremnum, Mon- 

 stera, Rhaphidophora, Scindapsus, and Pothos are repre- 

 sented by many species, and some of them are as remark- 

 able for their large, handsome, often fragrant flowers as 

 for their magnificent foliage. 



These Aroids all enjoy a warm, moist atmosphere and 

 plenty of moisture in the soil, and they are as easy to pro- 

 pagate from stem cuttings as Ivy is. Once started at the 

 foot of a wall, pillar, or Palm trunk they do all the rest 



