Aglaonema commutatum Schott, Araceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  Low risk (based on second screen), score: 1 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Aglaonema elegans Engl.; Aglaonema marantifolium var. maculatum Hook. f.; Aglaonema warburgii Engl.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Philippine evergreen

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Plants erect at first, later becoming ±decumbent; to 1.5 m tall.  Petioles mostly 6-25 (-35) cm long, commonly half as long to one and a half times as long as the blade; sheath membranous; blade oblong-elliptic or lanceolate, sometimes ovate or elliptic, mostly 12-35 (-44) cm long and 3-12 (-18) cm wide, usually about 2-4 times longer than wide; base somewhat asymmetric; apex acuminate; main lateral veins about 5-8; leathery.  Leaf blades often more or less variegated, with bars or spots.  Inflorescence: peduncles 1-6 together, as much as 15-20 cm long; spathe pale green (rarely almost white), mostly 4-9 cm long and 3-4 cm wide, shortly decurrent; stipe about 1 cm long; spadix cylindric, usually 2-6 cm long, included, bearing roughly 10-16 gynoecia in the pistillate part; staminate part commonly 1.5-5 cm long.  Fruits yellow to red, elliptico-obovoid, under 25 mm long" (Stone, 1970; p. 118).

"Stems erect, later decumbent, 0.7-6 feet long, 0.2-2.4 inches in diameter.  Leaf petiole 1-1.5 times as long a blade, usually green, blades usually narrowly oblong-elliptic to lanceolate, 2-3 times longer than wide, dark green to yellow-green, variegated ashy green around veins, base often unequal-sided.  Inflorescences 1-6 in axils; spathe oblong, pale green to white; spadix shortly stalked, slender, usually shorter than spathe.  Fruit ellipsoid to obovoid, yellow to bright red"  (Staples & Herbst, 2005; pp. 596-597).

Habitat/ecology:  "The species naturalizes easily" (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 597).  In Hawai‘i (O‘ahu), naturalized in wet disturbed forest area  (Imada, 2007; p. 35).

Propagation:  Seed. "Perhaps spread by bird dispersal of its yellow to bright red fruit" (Imada, 2007; p. 34).

Native range:  "From the Philippines to northeastern Sulawesi, with some varieties restriced to parts of individual islands" (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 597).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	introduced cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced cultivated	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 118)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 89)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Imada, Clyde (2007) (pp. 34-35) "Roadside in wet disturbed forest area, adjacent to large nursery". Voucher cited: G. Staples 1227 (BISH)
Marshall Islands Ratak Chain	Majuro (Mãjro) Atoll	introduced cultivated	Vander Velde, Nancy (2003) (p. 24) "Ornamental potted plant".
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 17) Vouchers cited: Baumann 7435, MacKee 41739
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast and Florida) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2009)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Aglaonema commutatum is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Aglaonema commutatum as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Aglaonema commutatum may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

Other Latin names:  Aglaonema elegans Engl.; Aglaonema marantifolium var. maculatum Hook. f.; Aglaonema warburgii Engl.

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1987. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian monocotyledonae. Micronesica 20:1-126.

Imada, Clyde. 2007. New Hawaiian plant records for 2005-2006. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2006. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 96:34-41.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

McCormack, Gerald. 2008. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

Stone, Benjamin C. 1970. The flora of Guam. Micronesica 6:1-659.

U. S. Government. 2009. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2009. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Vander Velde, Nancy. 2003. The vascular plants of Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Smithsonian Institution, Atoll Research Bulletin No. 503:1-141.