Epipremnum aureum

Variegated cultivar of E. aureum

Epipremnum aureum overgrowing Udawattakele Forest

Epipremnumaureum is a species of flowering plant in thefamily of Araceae, native in Mo'orea, French Polynesia.The species has become naturalised in tropical and sub-tropical forests worldwide, include Northern Australiathrough Southeast Asia, India, Pakistan and as far asHawaii and West Indies[2][3]. where it has caused severeecological damage in some cases (see below). The plant

has a multitude of common names including devil’s ivy,golden pothos, hunter’s robe, ivy arum,money plant,silver vine, Solomon Islands ivy and taro vine.It is sometimes mistakenly labeled as a Philodendron inplant stores.

1 Characteristic

E. aureum is an evergreen vine growing to 20 m (66 ft)tall, with stems up to 4 cm (2 in) in diameter, climb-ing by means of aerial roots which adhere to surfaces.The leaves are alternate, heart-shaped, entire on juvenileplants, but irregularly pinnatifid on mature plants, up to100 cm (39 in) long and 45 cm (18 in) broad (juvenileleaves much smaller, typically under 20 cm (8 in) long).The flowers are produced in a spathe up to 23 cm (9 in)long. This plant produces trailing stems when it climbsup trees and these take root when they reach the groundand grow along it. The leaves on these trailing stems growup to 10 cm (4 in) long and are the ones normally seen onthis plant when it is cultivated as a pot plant.

2 Cultivation and uses

In temperate regions it is a popular houseplant with nu-merous cultivars selected for leaves with white, yellow,or light green variegation. It is often used in decorativedisplays in shopping centers, offices, and other public lo-cations largely because it requires little care and is also at-tractively leafy. It is also efficient at removing indoor pol-lutants such as formaldehyde, xylene, and benzene.[4] Astudy found that this effect lessened the higher the molec-ular weight of the polluting substance.[5] As a houseplantit can reach a height of 20 m (66 ft) or more, given suit-able support. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Soci-ety's Award of Garden Merit.[6]

The plant is sometimes used in aquariums, placed on topof the aquarium and allowed to grow roots in the water.This is beneficial to the plant and the aquarium as it ab-sorbs many nitrates and uses them for growth.

3 Toxicity

The plant is listed as “toxic to cats, toxic to dogs" by theASPCA, because of the presence of insoluble raphides.

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Care should be taken to ensure the plant is not consumedby pets. Symptoms may include oral irritation, vomiting,and difficulty swallowing.[7]

4 Invasive Species

E. aureum can become a highly invasive species when in-troduced into tropical countries where it is not native. InSri Lanka it overgrows several hectares of the UdawattaKele Sanctuary in Kandy.[8] Having no natural enemies, itcompletely overgrows the forest floor as well as the trunksof trees, causing severe ecological disruption.It also invades the Kurulukele Forest Reserve in Kegallaand other places where it has been planted as a decorativeplant, or to hold steep banks along roads. It is on theUSDA list for Florida Exotic Pest Control Council list1999 as an invasive species.,[9]

5 See also

• Jade plant (also referred to as “money tree”)

• Annual honesty (also referred to as “money plant”)

6 References

[1] Epipremnum aureum (Linden & André) G.S.Bunting. In:The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Published on the In-ternet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ [2015-2-28].

[2] Epipremnum aureum. In: Govaerts, R. (2015). WorldChecklist of Araceae. Facilitated by the Royal BotanicGardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/ Retrieved 2015-2-28.

[3] Epipremnum aureum (Linden & André) G.S.Bunting.In: USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Pro-gram. Germplasm Resources Information Network- (GRIN) [Online Database]. National GermplasmResources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?461402(28 February 2015)

[4] Wolverton, B. C.How To Grow Fresh Air, Penguin Books,New York, 1997.

[5] Ayako Sawada, Takashi Oyabu, Purification characteris-tics of pothos for airborne chemicals in growing conditionsand its evaluation, Atmospheric Environment, Volume 42,Issue 3, January 2008, Pages 594-602, ISSN 1352-2310,doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.10.028.

[6] "Epipremnum aureum ". Royal Horticultural Society. Re-trieved 25 July 2013.

[7] “Devils Ivy”. ASPCA.org. Retrieved 2009-03-11.

[8] "'W. De Costa, H. Hitanayake and I. Dharmawardena, “APhysiological Investigation into the Invasive Behaviour ofSome Plant Species in a Mid-Country Forest Reserve inSri Lanka"" (PDF). JNSFSL, 2001, 29 (1 & 2):35–50. Re-trieved 2009-03-11.

[9] USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service). PlantsProfile

7 External links• Pothos Production Guide - discusses care of thisplant

• TED video - Kamal Meattle on How to Grow YourOwn Fresh Air slides

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8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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