ABSTRACT
University of Florida/IFAS, Environmental Horticulture Department, Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, 14625 County Road 672, Wimauma, FL 33598, USA.
Email: zdeng@ufl .edu
Caladium (Caladium Vent.) is a member of the family Araceae, placed in the tribe Caladieae in the subfamily Aroideae (Mayo et al. 1997). The genus is indigenous to South and Central Americas (Grayum 1986, Mayo et al. 1997). The number of species in this genus is still a matter of discussion, from seven (Madison 1981) to 17 (Croat 1994) depending on the taxonomists who worked on this genus. Birdsey (1951) proposed to refer to the cultivated caladiums as Caladium × hortulanum Birdsey. In some classifications, however, C.× hortulanum is considered synonymous with Caladium bicolor (Aiton) Vent. (https://theplantlist.org/). For simplicity and for the new insights gained from molecular marker analysis described below, the name C. × hortulanum will be used in this chapter to refer to the fancy-or lanceleaved caladium cultivars.
