Rhaphidophora decursiva 'Aurea'

Rhaphidophora decursiva 'Aurea' is a golden colour-break of the species' large, deeply pinnatifid adult leaves, carrying the same many-lobed leathery leaf shape marbled with irregular chartreuse-gold sectoring over the wild type's usual glossy green rather than any solid colour change. Because decursiva only reaches its deeply divided leaf form once mature and given a substantial climbing support, most Aurea specimens in circulation are still in the smaller, less-divided juvenile phase, so the gold-marbled adult foliage only appears after years of growth. It shares the vigorous, fast climbing habit of the species.

Native range

Golden colour-form cultivar of Rhaphidophora decursiva, Indian Subcontinent to South China and Indo-China

Classification

Genus

Rhaphidophora

Family

Araceae

Type

Variegated

Growth habit

Vigorous climbing, root-climbing

Form of

Rhaphidophora decursiva

Morphology

Leaf shape

Deeply pinnatifidFoliage deeply lobed in a feather-like pattern, but not cut all the way to the central vein. with numerous narrow lobes

Leaf length

50-90cm

Leaf width

30-50cm

Petiole colour

Yellow-green

Venation

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

Texture

Glossy, leathery

Variegation

Irregular golden-chartreuse marbling and sectoring over the green base leaf, not a solid colour

Growth habit

Thick climbing stems