ABSTRACT:

The collection of living aroids at Selby, still actively increasing, at present includes over 1100 collections representing about 600 species in 44 genera. Nearly all are wildcollected plants with carefully kept records of their place of origin, identifiable from an accession number embossed in an aluminum tag 74 attached to each plant. The best represented genera are Anthurium (400+ collections), Philodendron (166 collections) and Caladium (28 collections). The bulk of the collection has been assembled by three of the Gardens' staff members: Dr. Calaway H. Dodson, DIrector; Dr. M. T. Madison, Curator, and Dr. Timothy Plowman, Adjunct Taxonomist. Since these three have research interests centered in the northern Andes, it is not surprising that plants from Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru predominate in the collection. The representation of Asian aroids is much weaker, and from Africa and Australia there is hardly anything at all.