Aglaonema modestum Schott ex Engl.

Aglaonema modestum

Aglaonema modestum Schott ex Engler, 1879, p. 442.

A. acutispathum N. E. Brown, 1885, p. 39.

A. costatum var. viride Engler, 1915, p. 17.

A. laoticum Gagnepain, 1941, p. 117.

A. marantifolium sensu Troll, 1928, p. 123, figs. 10–13 [not Blume, 1837].

A. simplex sensu Bailey, 1930, p. 31 [not Blume, 1837].

A. modestum cv. ‘Variegatum’ Graf, 1963, pp. 118, 1527.

Stem dark green, erect, 20–50 cm tall, 0.4–2.0 cm thick, internodes 0.4–3.0 cm long. Petioles (6) 10–20 (22) cm long, (0.4) 0.5–0.9 (1.1) times as long as the leaf-blade, upper portion flattened. Sheaths broad and membranous, (2.5) 4–8 (11) cm long, (0.2) 0.4–0.8 times as long as the petiole. Blades ovate to sublanceolate, rarely elliptic, (12) 14–25 cm long, (5) 8–11 cm wide, length/width ratio 1:1.9–2.5(2.8); base often unequal, obtuse to rounded; apex gradually longacuminate (typically 2–3.5 cm from point of 1 cm blade width to apex); variegation none; venation weakly to strongly differentiated into 4–6 primary lateral veins diverging from the midrib at 30°–50°. Peduncles 1–3 together, 5–12.5 cm long, usually more than half as long as the petiole. Spathe apiculate, (3) 6–9 cm long, (1.5) 2.4–2.6 cm wide, turning yellow with age, decurrent for 0.5–2.0 cm. Stipe none. Spadix thin-cylindric, (1.5) 3–4.3 cm long, (0.6) 1.2–3.1 cm short of spathe apex; pistillate portion 0.5–1.0 cm long, adnate to spathe, pistils 9–13; staminate portion 2.3–3.5 cm long, 0.3–0.6 cm thick, not shedding pollen. Fruits orange, 2–3 cm long, 1.0–1.3 cm thick.

TYPE COLLECTION.—Philippines, Manila, Gaudichaud s.n. (holotype: P, fide Engler, 1915, but not found). Schott, Aroideae Nr. 56 (W), a drawing of the holotype, is suggested here as a neotype, if the holotype has been lost. The neotype is the basis for the drawing distributed as Engler, Araceae 74 (seen in B, G,K,SING,Z).

DISTRIBUTION.—Southern China, northern Laos, and northern Thailand (Figure 4).

HABITAT.—Humid ravines in tropical and semideciduous forest.

FLOWERING TIME.—March–April.

This species is commonly called “Chinese evergreen” in the United States and is popular as a house plant. It is called “Wan-lien-tching” in Chinese (Morse 374), literally “10,000 years green,” i.e., evergreen, and is considered to bring good fortune to the owner.

Hitherto, this species was thought to be native to the Philippines since the type supposedly was collected there. Merrill (1923, p. 184) suggested that the type actually was collected in Macao. Merrill (1932, p. 94) later reconsidered and thought it highly probable that Gaudichaud

actually did secure his material from Manila but that the specimens were taken from plants imported from southeastern China by the Chinese and grown for ornamental purposes in Manila; it seems probable that the species has been cultivated for a long time by the Chinese, and that it was more or less disseminated by them in the Orient, quite as in more recent times it has been disseminated by them in the United States.

This hypothesis is supported by my findings.

Aglaonema modestum is most closely related to A. hookerianum and A. ovatum. It differs from both in having the spadix distinctly shorter than the spathe (by more than 1 cm). Vegetative or fruiting material is difficult to determine with any degree of certainty. Aglaonema modestum typically has a long acumen on the leaf apex; however, this is not found in the material called A. laoticum although the spadix is 1.3 cm short of the spathe apex and the species clearly is referable to A. modestum.

The type of Aglaonema acutispathum N. E. Brown is: England, Hort. Kew., from Hong Kong by H. V. Knaggs, 1 June 1885 [Brown] (holotype: K). Brown (1903, p. 185) himself reduced his taxon to synonymy saying, “In my description I stated that it was distinct from A. modestum, but Engler’s reproduction of Schott’s figure of the species (Engler, Araceae No. 74) , which I had not then seen, demonstrates that the two are identical.”

The type of Aglaonema costatum var. viride Engler is: Hort. Bot. Calcuttensis, Perak [origin], April 1896, Kunstler s.n. (holotype: CAL). The origin “Perak” noted on the specimen seems unlikely unless it was from cultivation. The specimen is annotated by Engler only as “Aglaonema costatum N. E. Br.” without mention of a varietal name; however, this is the only specimen I have seen that fits Engler’s citation “Malakka, Perak (Kunstler. –Kult. im Bot. Gart. Calcutta).” Only one leaf and one inflorescence (one destroyed) are present, but the material seems to be A. modestum or, possibly A. hookerianum. Furtado annotated the specimen as “certainly not A. costatum.”

The types of Aglaonema laoticum Gagnepain are: Laos, Luang Prabang, Ken Luong [no date], Spire 726 (lectotype: P); [Laos] Paklai, 1866–1868, Thorel s.n. (syntype: P); Thailand, Chieng Mai, Doi Soo-tep, 3000 ft, 2 May 1910, Kerr 1160 (syntype: K). This lectotype was selected because it is the most complete (with flowers and fruits) and because Gagnepain made sketches of the inflorescence on it. The spadix is sessile, reaching 1.3 cm short of the spathe apex, and without conspicuous staminodia, indicating that this is A. modestum although the acumen of the leaves is short for A. modestum. The large seed (3 × 1 cm) is usual for A. hookerianum, but the plants are much smaller than those of that species.

The binomial Aglaonema simplex is often misapplied to A. modestum. This misidentification has been pointed out by Merrill (1932, p. 93). True A. simplex has a stipitate spadix and only rarely has the long acumen commonly found in A. modestum.

Aglaonema modestum cv. ‘Variegatum’ was reported to come from Pennock’s Puerto Rico Nursery. The photograph published by Graf (1963) is not clear but the plant looks as though the variegation might be caused by a disease.

Aglaonema modestum, called Chinese evergreen, green-for-ten-thousand-years, and lily of China, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Aglaonema, native to Bangladesh, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and southeast and south-central China. In these areas, it is found in tropical swamps and rainforests.