7. Epipremnum Schott, Bonplandia (Hannover). 5: 45. 1857.
麒麟叶属 qi lin ye shu
Authors: Heng Li & Peter C. Boyce
Lianas, large to very large. Stems robust, woody, branched and rooting. Leaves long petiolate; petiole with pulvinus at junction with leaf blade, somewhat sheathing at base; leaf blade large, entire, pinnatifid, or pinnatisect, with perforations along midrib or not. Inflorescences terminal or sometimes displaced, solitary; peduncle robust. Spathe caducous, cymbiform, ovate, acute or acuminate. Spadix sessile. Flowers bisexual, sometimes with female ones at spadix base and these sterile, lacking perigone. Stamens 4(-6); filaments linear, flat; anthers much shorter than filaments; thecae ellipsoidal, longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary polygonal-cylindric, apex truncate, 1-loculed; ovules 2-4, inserted at base of parietal placenta, sometimes 6-8, distichous on parietal placentae, anatropous, with short funicle; stigma sessile, linear-oblong, longitudinal. Fruit small. Seeds reniform, usually striate.
About 20 species: tropical Asia, Australia, Pacific islands; one species in China.
Epipremnum aureum (Linden & Andre) Bunting is cultivated in gardens.
