Aglaonema commutatum

Chinese Evergreen has long been a fixture of offices and shopping centres thanks to its unmatched tolerance for low light, dry air, and inconsistent care. Its lance-shaped leaves carry silvery-grey mottling along the veins, giving even the plain species a decorative, hand-marbled look without any variegation instability to manage. In its native Southeast Asian understorey it grows beneath a dense forest canopy, which is exactly the low-light logic that makes it thrive metres away from a window indoors. It grows slowly into a dense clump of upright cane-like stems and, unlike many aroids, rarely needs staking or support.

Native range

Native to the tropical understorey forests of the Philippines and Sulawesi; a mainstay of interior plantscaping worldwide.

Classification

Genus

Aglaonema

Family

Araceae

Type

Wild

Growth habit

Clumping, cane-forming

Morphology

Leaf shape

LanceolateLance-shaped leaves that are significantly longer than they are wide, tapering to a point at the tip. to ovateEgg-shaped leaves, with the wider end near the base.

Leaf length

15-30cm

Leaf width

6-12cm

Petiole colour

Green

Venation

PinnateVeins or lobes arranged like a feather, branching out symmetrically on both sides of a single main central vein.

Texture

Semi-glossy, leathery

Variegation

Silvery-grey mottling along veins

Growth habit

Upright clumping canes