Aroid is the common name for members of the Araceae family of plants, sometimes known as the Philodendron or Arum family. The occasionally beautiful and often bizarre combination of spathe and spadix called the inflorescence, sometimes referred to as a "flower", is a distinguishing feature of all aroids.
Name: LariAnn Garner south Florida, USA When in doubt, do the cross!
Technically, palms also have a spathe and spadix, although the spadix is very large and often heavily branched. The spathes can be woody and it is easy to imagine using them to make artistic giant aroid flowers.
And despite common belief, a Monstera is not a Philodendron. They are in completely different genara. I know this is technical but Philodendron produce imperfect flowers while Monstera produce perfect flowers on the spadix.
According to Dr. Croat there are nearly 1000 Philodendron but less than 40 Monstera species. There is currently some revision underway on the genus Monstera.
