caladium

American  

[kuh-ley-dee-uhm] / kəˈleɪ di əm /

noun

1. any of several tropical American plants of the genus Caladium, of the arum family, cultivated for their variegated, colorful leaves.

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caladium British  

/ kəˈleɪdɪəm /

noun

1. any of various tropical plants of the aroid genus Caladium, which are widely cultivated as potted plants for their colourful variegated foliage

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Etymology

Origin of caladium

1835–45; < New Latin: originally coined as genus name for taro on basis of Malay kəladi (spelling keladi ) araceous plant; see -ium

Example Sentences

He went to the corral and marked the animals and plants: cow, goat, pig, hen, cassava, caladium, banana.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Neb prepared some agouti soup, a smoked capybara ham, to which was added the boiled tubercules of the "caladium macrorhizum," an herbaceous plant of the arum family.

From The Mysterious Island by Verne, Jules

For summer planting in or near ponds, caladium, umbrella-plant, and papyrus are good.

From Manual of Gardening (Second Edition) by Bailey, L. H. (Liberty Hyde)

Start same as caladium, but they do not require so much heat.

From Gardening Indoors and Under Glass A Practical Guide to the Planting, Care and Propagation of House Plants, and to the Construction and Management of Hotbed, Coldframe and Small Greenhouse by Rockwell, F. F. (Frederick Frye)

Close to my face, so near that it startled me for a moment, over the curved length of a long, narrow caladium leaf, there came suddenly two brilliant lights.

From Atlantic Classics, Second Series by Addams, Jane