Epipremnum


Epipremnum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae, found in tropical forests from China, the Himalayas, and Southeast Asia to Australia the western Pacific. They are evergreen perennial vines climbing with the aid of aerial roots. They may be confused with other Monstereae such as Rhaphidophora, Scindapsus and Amydrium.
All parts of the plants are toxic, mostly due to trichosclereids and raphides. Plants can grow to over with leaves up to long, but in containers the size is much reduced. The plants, commonly known as centipede tongavine, pothos or devil's ivy, depending on species, are typically grown as houseplants in temperate regions. Juvenile leaves are bright green, often with irregularly variegated patterns of yellow or white. They may find host trees by the use of Skototropism.

Etymology

From the Greek and .

Species

  1. Epipremnum amplissimum Engl. - Queensland, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, Vanuatu
  2. Epipremnum aureum G.S.Bunting - native to Moorea in Polynesia; naturalized in Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, Queensland, Melanesia, Seychelles, Hawaii, Florida, Costa Rica, Bermuda, the West Indies, Brazil, and Ecuador
  3. Epipremnum carolinense Volkens - Micronesia
  4. Epipremnum ceramense Alderw. - Maluku
  5. Epipremnum dahlii Engl. - Bismarck Archipelago
  6. Epipremnum falcifolium Engl. - Borneo
  7. Epipremnum giganteum Schott - Indochina
  8. Epipremnum meeboldii K.Krause - Manipur region of India
  9. Epipremnum moluccanum Schott - Maluku
  10. Epipremnum moszkowskii K.Krause - western New Guinea
  11. Epipremnum nobile Engl. - Sulawesi
  12. Epipremnum obtusum Engl. & K.Krause - Papua New Guinea
  13. Epipremnum papuanum Alderw. - Papua New Guinea
  14. Epipremnum pinnatum Engl. - widespread across Southeast Asia, southern China, New Guinea, Melanesia, northern Australia; naturalized in West Indies
  15. Epipremnum silvaticum Alderw. Sumatra

    Fossil record

3 fossil seeds of †Epipremnum crassum have been described from middle Miocene strata of the Fasterholt area near Silkeborg in Central Jutland, Denmark. Fossils of this species have also been reported from the Oligocene and Miocene of Western Siberia and the Miocene and Pliocene of Europe.