Aglaonema (Greek, bright thread). Araceae. Greenhouse herbs grown for foliage and habit.

Low plants with an erect st. and basal shoots: Ivs. with a long sheathed petiole, the blade usually oblong or oblong-lanceolate, with a thick costa and few lateral nerves: peduncles in clusters, shorter than the petiole: spathe straight, convolute below, open above; spadix sessile or stalked.—About 15 species, of Trop. Asia and Afr., allied to Arum, Alocasia and Dieffenbachia, and requiring essentially the same treatment as those genera.

These plants are evergreen, often beautifully variegated. Aglaonemas may be divided, or cuttings may be taken from plants that become too tall and weak. In either case the cuttings and divisions should be put into the sand-bed previous to potting, to develop new roots. All of the kinds will succeed in fibrous loam enriched with rotted manure, with the addition of a moderate quantity of leaf-mold, sand, and some crushed charcoal.

A. commutatum, Schott. Lvs. oblong-lanceolate, obtuse at the bane, the apex long-acuminate, intense green, marked with spots of a paler green and of white. E. Indies.--A. Roeblinii, Hort., is "a fine decorative plant, with thick, leathery foliage" (Manda).—A. versicolor, Hort. Lvs. obliquely oblong, about 4 in. long by half as wide, rounded at the base, the apex acute, irregularly marked with patches of dark velvety green inter- persed with paler green and milky blotches. E. Indies. Aglaonema pictum, Kunth. Dwarf: Ivs. somewhat unequilateral, oblong or elliptic, ovate (4-7 in. long and 2-3 in. wide), very dark green, blotched with white, the central markings usually extending the whole length of the midrib: spathe white or whitish, 1-1 1/2 in. long. Sumatra