Rhaphidophora tetrasperma Aurea

A distinct gold-toned colour break from the white-sectored form already catalogued as this species' 'Variegated' page: trade listings are explicit that Aurea and (white) Variegated are two different forms, not different names for the same plant. Rhaphidophora tetrasperma Aurea shares the same underlying form and growth habit as Rhaphidophora tetrasperma (a compact climber with short internodes and leaves split along both sides nearly to the midrib), with gold-yellow sectoral variegation across the split leaves, distinct from the white sectoral break already catalogued as this species' plain 'variegated' page.

Native range

Aurea colour-break cultivar of Rhaphidophora tetrasperma, Southern Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia

Classification

Genus

Rhaphidophora

Family

Araceae

Type

Variegated

Growth habit

Compact climbing hemiepiphyte

Form of

Rhaphidophora tetrasperma

Morphology

Leaf shape

OvateEgg-shaped leaves, with the wider end near the base., split along both sides nearly to the midrib into several unequal segments

Leaf length

15-30 cm

Leaf width

12-25 cm

Petiole colour

Green, unaffected by leaf variegation

Venation

Prominent midrib with pinnateVeins or lobes arranged like a feather, branching out symmetrically on both sides of a single main central vein. laterals

Texture

Glossy

Variegation

chimericVariegation caused by a cell mutation. Often produces high contrast but can be unstable and revert to all-green. yellow-gold sectoral variegation, a separate colour break from the existing white-sectored Variegated sibling

Growth habit

Vining climber, short internodes