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Dieffenbachia

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Dieffenbachia

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Dieffenbachia, commonly known as dumb cane or leopard lily, is a genus of tropical flowering plants in the family Araceae. It is native to the New World Tropics from Mexico and the West Indies south to Argentina. Some species are widely cultivated as ornamental plants, especially as houseplants, and have become naturalized on a few tropical islands.

OverviewAI-generated

Dieffenbachia is a genus of plants within the family Araceae. It belongs to the order Alismatales, class Liliopsida, and phylum Tracheophyta in the kingdom Plantae. The genus produces berries as its fruit type. Common names for the group include dieffenbachia, 花叶万年青属, 黛粉芋属, and 粉黛叶属.

The genus has been introduced to several regions, including Bangladesh, Borneo, the Caroline Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Gulf of Guinea Islands, Malaya, Seychelles, Society Islands, and Vanuatu. Occurrence records from various sources indicate presence in countries such as Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Brazil, and Dominica. These records are held by institutions including CICY, INECOL, ENCB-IPN, EKY, and CAS.

Synthesized by Vinony from 28 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, Gbif Occ, Plants of the World, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

GENUS

  1. KingdomPlantae
  2. PhylumTracheophyta
  3. ClassLiliopsida
  4. OrderAlismatales
  5. FamilyAraceae
Native toArgentina Northeast, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Cayman Is., Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba
Observations recorded13,283

via GBIF · Kew POWO

Museum specimens

Specimen records
685
With media
561
Family
Araceae
Collections
CICY, INECOL, ENCB-IPN, EKY, CAS, NO
Recorded in
Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Brazil, Dominica, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico

Wikidata facts

Instance of
taxon
Parent taxon
Aroideae
Image
Dieffenbachia-02.jpg
Show 8 more facts
taxon rank
genus
taxon name
Dieffenbachia
Commons category
Dieffenbachia
Commons gallery
Dieffenbachia
topic's main category
Category:Dieffenbachia
taxon common name
粉黛叶属
has fruit type
berry
Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~5 min read

Encyclopedic overview

7 sections
Contents
  • Species
  • Ecology
  • Cultivation
  • Toxicity
  • References
  • Sources
  • External links

Dieffenbachia, commonly known as dumb cane or leopard lily, is a genus of tropical flowering plants in the family Araceae. It is native to the New World Tropics from Mexico and the West Indies south to Argentina. Some species are widely cultivated as ornamental plants, especially as houseplants, and have become naturalized on a few tropical islands.

Dieffenbachia is a perennial herbaceous plant with straight stem, simple and alternate leaves containing white spots and flecks, making it attractive as indoor foliage. Species in this genus are popular as houseplants because of their tolerance of shade. The English names, dumb cane and mother-in-law's tongue (also used for Sansevieria species) refer to the poisoning effect of raphides, which can cause temporary inability to speak. Dieffenbachia was named by Heinrich Wilhelm Schott, director of the Botanical Gardens in Vienna, to honor his head gardener Joseph Dieffenbach (1790–1863). thumb|Inflorescence of Dieffenbachia oerstedii thumb|Cross section and radial section of stem

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Dieffenbachia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (15)