Caladium

caladium (kəlā`dēəm): see arum.

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caladium

Any of the tropical New World tuberous herbaceous plants that make up the genus Caladium, in the arum family, widely cultivated for their showy, fragile-looking, variably coloured leaves. Caladiums are nonhardy bulbs used as potted plants indoors and in summer outdoor plantings. They keep surprisingly well if protected from chills and wintry drafts.

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Caladium 

a genus of plants of the family Araceae. They are perennial herbs with a tuberous rhizome and sagittate or oblong leaves. The flowers are unisexual, without a perianth, and are gathered into a spadix (with pistillate flowers at the base, stami-nate flowers higher up, and a sterile part of the spadix above them), which is surrounded by a convolute white spathe. The fruit is a berry with several seeds. There are approximately 15 species, which grow in the rain forests of tropical America. Some species (for example, C. bicolor, C. marmoratum, and C. pic-turatum) are cultivated and have given rise to many horticultural varieties with different leaf shapes and colors.