Volume 11 > Part 2 > Year 2012 > Page 114 > Araceae > Aglaonema

5. Aglaonema modestum Schott ex Engl.

in A.DC. & C.DC., Monogr. Phan. 2: 442. 1879; Engl. in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV, 23Dc (Heft 64): 29, fig. 13. 1915; Gagnep. In Lecomte, Fl. Indo-Chine 6: 1121–1122. 1942; Nicolson, Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 1: 26–28, fig. 4 & 10. 1969; Li & Boyce in H.Li. Et al., Fl. China 23: 23. 2010.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Small to medium, erect to eventually decumbent, evergreen herb. Stem erect, 20–50 cm tall, 0.4–2 cm thick. Leaves few to several together; petioles 6–22 cm long, upper portion flattened; petiolar sheath broad, membranous, 2.5–11 cm long; leaf blade ovate to sublanceolate, rarely elliptic, 12–25 by 5–11 cm, base unequal, obtuse to rounded, apex gradually long acuminate; primary lateral veins 4–6 diverging from the midrib at 30°–50°; interprimary veins much less prominent. Inflorescence 1–3 together; peduncle 5–12.5 cm; spathe elongate-oblong, apiculate, 3–9 by 1.5–2.6 cm, opening pale green and ageing to yellowish, decurrent for 0.5–2 cm; spadix thin-cylindrical, sessile, 1.5–4.3 cm long, ca 0.6–3.1 cm short of spathe apex; pistillate flower zone 0.5–1 cm long, adnate to spathe, with 9–13 flowers; staminate flower zone 2.3–3.5 by 0.3–0.6 cm, white. Fruits ellipsoid, 2–3 by 1–1.3 cm, green, ripening to dark orange.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai, Nan, Tak.

Distribution : SW China, N Laos (types of Aglaonema laoticum). Yet to be recorded from N Vietnam. Described from plants in cultivation in the Philippines, as were A. acutispathum and A. costatum var. viride.

Ecology : Hill mixed evergreen and deciduous forests on shale and limestone.

Vernacular : Khiao muen pi (เขียวหมื่นปี).

Uses: This species is commonly cultivated as an ornamental, and is called Wan-lien-tching in Mandarin Chinese literally ‘10,000 years green’ and is considered to bring good fortune to the owner.

Notes: Aglaonema modestum is most similar to A. ovatum, differing by staminodes not markedly different in morphology to the staminate flowers. Vegetative or fruiting material is difficult to determine with any degree of certainty. Aglaonema modestum typically has a long acumen on the leaf apex but this is not found in the material formerly called A. laoticum.