Dieffenbachia seguine (dumb cane)

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Picture

Title

Caption

Copyright

Habit

Dieffenbachia seguine (dumb cane); habit. Honolua Lipoa Point, Maui, Hawaii, USA. April 2018

©Forest & Kim Starr - CC BY 4.0

Habit

Dieffenbachia seguine (dumb cane); habit. Wailua, Maui, Hawaii, USA. September 2014.

©Forest & Kim Starr - CC BY 4.0

Habit

Dieffenbachia seguine (dumb cane); habit, showing leaves and stem. Haiku, Maui, Hawaii, USA. December 2006.

©Forest & Kim Starr - CC BY 4.0

Identity

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Preferred Scientific Name

Dieffenbachia seguine (Jacq.) Schott

Preferred Common Name

dumb cane

Other Scientific Names

Caladium seguine (Jacq.) Vent.
Dieffenbachia grandis Engl.
Dieffenbachia variegata Engl.
Dieffenbachia wallisii Linden
Arum crudele Salisb.
Arum regnium Rodschied ex G.F.Mey.
Arum seguine Jacq.
Arum seguinum L.
Caladium maculatum Lodd.
Caladium seguinum (Jacq.) Vent.
Dieffenbachia barraquiniana Verschaff. & Lem.
Dieffenbachia brasiliensis H.J.Veitch
Dieffenbachia cognata Schott
Dieffenbachia consobrina Schott
Dieffenbachia conspurcata Schott
Dieffenbachia gigantea Verschaff
Dieffenbachia gollmeriana Schott
Dieffenbachia illustris Voss
Dieffenbachia irrorata Schott
Dieffenbachia jenmanii Veitch ex Regel
Dieffenbachia lineata K.Koch & C.D.Bouché
Dieffenbachia lingulata Schott
Dieffenbachia liturata Schott
Dieffenbachia maculata (Lodd.) Sweet
Dieffenbachia magnifica Linden & Rodigas
Dieffenbachia mirabilis Verschaff. ex Engl.
Dieffenbachia neglecta Schott
Dieffenbachia nobilis Verschaff. ex Engl.
Dieffenbachia picta Schott
Dieffenbachia picturata L.Linden & Rodigas
Dieffenbachia plumieri Schott
Dieffenbachia poeppigii Schott
Dieffenbachia robusta K. Koch
Dieffenbachia seguine var. nobilis Engl.
Dieffenbachia ventenatiana Schott
Dieffenbachia verschaffeltii Engl.
Seguinum maculatum (Lodd.) Raf.
Spathiphyllum pictum W. Bull

International Common Names

English: dumb-cane; mother-in-law-plant; poison arum
Spanish: aro seguino; caña muda; chucha; cucaracho; hoja de coche; malanga de la dicha; millionaria; pataquiña; rábano; rábano cimarrón; retamo cimmarón; salon verde
French: canne à gratter; canne madere; pédiveau vénéneux; tue belle-mère

Local Common Names

Argentina: cuyanigua
Brazil: aninga; bananeira d’água; canna-de-imbe
Cuba: dicha; malanga de la dicha
Fiji: yalu ni vavalagi
French Polynesia: taro upu reva
Germany: Dieffenbachie; Dieffenbachie, Schierlings-; Schweigrohrwurzel
Guyana: donkin
Portugal: cana marona
Sweden: prickblad
Tonga: talo

EPPO code

DIFSE (Dieffenbachia seguine)

Summary of Invasiveness

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Dieffenbachia seguine, commonly called dumb cane, is a herbaceous plant native from the Caribbean and South America that is widely cultivated as an ornamental. It has invaded intact forest ecosystems in Samoa and become widely naturalized where planted as an ornamental. Plants are considered weeds in some tropical plantations within and outside the plant’s native range. The species can spread via seed and vegetatively from discarded garden waste. All parts of the plant are highly toxic to people and pets.

Taxonomic Tree

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Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Spermatophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Monocotyledonae
Order: Arales
Family: Araceae
Genus: Dieffenbachia
Species: Dieffenbachia seguine

Notes on Taxonomy and Nomenclature

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There are about 135 species of Dieffenbachia, mostly occurring in Central and South America (Croat, 2004). The genus was first described by Schott in 1860 and many of the species he described were synonymized by Engler in 1915 (Croat, 2004). D. picta and D. maculata are now synonymized under D. seguine (Croat, 2004).

Description

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D. seguine is a terrestrial herbaceous plant that grows in tropical environments. The basal stems are often thick and root at the nodes. Stems can grow to 1.5 m tall. Stems may trail along the ground long distances. Leaves and stems contain a white sap. Leaves have elongated, grooved, petioles (10-35 cm long), which are usually medium green, but may be spotted. The petioles are covered in a sheath to 2/3 or more of its length. Leaves cluster in a tight whorl at the apex of the stem. Leaves are simple, ovate-lanceolate and acuminate at the apex, acute to obtuse at the base, 17-38 cm long and 10-20 cm wide. Leaves are somewhat leathery and are often variegated with pale green or white, especially along the midribs. Midribs are slightly off-center. There are 13-19 primary lateral veins on each side. Flowers are a spathe and spadix with 1-4 inflorescences per axil. The pale green spathe is usually shorter than the leaves, 11-24 cm long, acuminate at the apex, gradually constricted above the tube (spathe tube 7-10 cm long). The spadix is slightly shorter than the spathe (10-19 cm long) and is divided into pistillate and staminate portions with the pistillate flowers basal. Flowers are naked and unisexual. Fruits mature to bright red or orange and are 2- or 3- lobed, each fruit containing 1 to 3 seeds (Croat, 2004).

Plant Type

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Broadleaved
Herbaceous
Perennial
Seed propagated
Vegetatively propagated

Distribution

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D. seguine naturally ranges throughout much of the Caribbean south into Venezuela, Suriname, French Guiana, eastern Brazil, and west into the lowlands of Colombia, eastern Ecuador and Bolivia (Croat, 2004). It is listed as occurring in Mexico and much of Central America (HEAR, 2017), but it is not considered native to Central America, where it may have been confused with Central American and Mexican species (Croat, 2004). D. seguine is widely cultivated around the world as a houseplant, but it only survives outdoors in tropical climates (Croat, 2004). The species is cultivated and naturalized in Sri Lanka (SL Flora, 2017), Singapore (Neo et al., 2012), Malaysia (Hashim et al., 2010), Nigeria (NCF, 2017), Samoa (Space and Flynn, 2002), Fiji, Hawaii and other south Pacific islands (HEAR, 2017).

Distribution Table

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The distribution in this summary table is based on all the information available. When several references are cited, they may give conflicting information on the status. Further details may be available for individual references in the Distribution Table Details section which can be selected by going to Generate Report.

Last updated: 25 Feb 2021

Continent/Country/Region	Distribution	Origin	Invasive	Reference	Notes
Africa
Burundi	Present	Introduced		Flora of Central Africa (2017)
Congo, Democratic Republic of the	Present	Introduced		Flora of Central Africa (2017)
Mayotte	Present	Introduced	Invasive	CABI (Undated)	Also cultivated; Original citation: INPN (2017)
Nigeria	Present, Localized	Introduced	Invasive	NCF (2017)	Niger Delta
Réunion	Present	Introduced		CABI (Undated)	Original citation: INPN (2017)
Rwanda	Present	Introduced		Flora of Central Africa (2017)
Asia
China	Present	Introduced		CABI (Undated a)	Based on regional distribution
Hong Kong	Present, Only in captivity/cultivation	Introduced		HEAR (2017)
Malaysia	Present	Introduced		CABI (Undated a)	Based on regional distribution
-Peninsular Malaysia	Present, Localized	Introduced		Nor Rasidah Hashim et al. (2010)
Pakistan	Present, Only in captivity/cultivation	Introduced		CABI (Undated)	Original citation: Tropicos (2017)
Singapore	Present	Introduced		HEAR (2017) Keng et al. (1998)
Sri Lanka	Present	Introduced	Invasive	CABI (Undated)	Original citation: SL Flora (2017)
Taiwan	Present			Hong et al. (2013)
Turkey	Present			Cetİnkaya-Yİldİz et al. (2004)
Europe
United Kingdom	Present	Introduced		Barnes and Fox (1955)
North America
Antigua and Barbuda	Present	Native		Graveson (2012)
British Virgin Islands	Present	Native		Acevedo-Rodríguez and Strong (2005)	Tortola
Costa Rica	Present	Native		HEAR (2017)
Cuba	Present	Introduced	Invasive	Oviedo Prieto et al. (2012)
Dominica	Present	Native		Graveson (2012)
El Salvador	Present	Native		HEAR (2017)
Guadeloupe	Present	Native		CABI (Undated)	Original citation: Tela-Botanica (2017)
Guatemala	Present	Native		HEAR (2017)
Honduras	Present	Native		HEAR (2017)
Martinique	Present	Native	Invasive	Quénéhervé et al. (2006)
Mexico	Present	Native and Introduced		Cuartas-Hernández and Núñez-Farfán (2006) Croat (2004)	Considered both native and introduced in the country
Nicaragua	Present	Native		HEAR (2017)
Puerto Rico	Present	Native		Acevedo-Rodríguez and Strong (2005)
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Present	Native		Graveson (2012)
Saint Lucia	Present	Native		Graveson (2012)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Present	Native		Graveson (2012)
Trinidad and Tobago	Present	Native		Graveson (2012)
U.S. Virgin Islands	Present	Native		Acevedo-Rodríguez and Strong (2005)	St. John and St. Thomas
United States	Present	Introduced		CABI (Undated a)	Based on regional distribution
-Hawaii	Present	Introduced	Invasive	HEAR (2017)	Also in cultivation; Kauai, Maui
Oceania
American Samoa	Present	Introduced	Invasive	HEAR (2017)
Cook Islands	Present	Introduced		HEAR (2017)	Also in cultivation; Penrhyn, ‘Atiu, Mangaia, Rarotonga
Federated States of Micronesia	Present	Introduced	Invasive	HEAR (2017) Fosberg et al. (1987) Space and Flynn (2000) Herrera et al. (2010)	Also in cultivation; Weno, Kosrae, Pohnpei, Yap
Fiji	Present	Introduced	Invasive	HEAR (2017)
French Polynesia	Present	Introduced	Invasive	HEAR (2017)	Also in cultivation; Fatu Hiva, Hiva Oa, Nuku Hiva, Tahuata, Ua Pou, Moorea, Raiatea, Taha’a, Tahiti, Tetiaroa Atoll, Makatea, Rurutu
Guam	Present	Introduced		HEAR (2017)
Marshall Islands	Present	Introduced		HEAR (2017)	Also in cultivation; Kwajalein, Majuro
Nauru	Present	Introduced		HEAR (2017)	Also in cultivation
New Caledonia	Present	Introduced	Invasive	HEAR (2017)	Île Grande Terre
Niue	Present	Introduced		HEAR (2017)	Also in cultivation
Northern Mariana Islands	Present	Introduced		HEAR (2017)
Palau	Present	Introduced	Invasive	HEAR (2017)	Babeldaob, Koror, Malakal, Ngerkebesan, Peleliu
Samoa	Present	Introduced	Invasive	HEAR (2017)	Savai‘I, Upolu
Tonga	Present	Introduced		HEAR (2017)	Also in cultivation; ‘Eua
U.S. Minor Outlying Islands	Present	Introduced		CABI (Undated a)	Based on regional distribution
-Wake Island	Present	Introduced		HEAR (2017)	Also in cultivation
South America
Bolivia	Present	Native		Croat (2004)
Brazil	Present	Native		Caliman et al. (2013)	Based on regional distribution
-Acre	Present	Native		Reflora (2017)
-Amazonas	Present	Native		Reflora (2017)
-Bahia	Present			Caliman et al. (2013)
-Goias	Present	Native		Reflora (2017)
-Para	Present	Native		Reflora (2017)
Colombia	Present	Native		HEAR (2017)
Ecuador	Present	Native		HEAR (2017)
-Galapagos Islands	Present	Introduced		HEAR (2017)	Also in cultivation; Floreana, Isabela, San Cristobal, Santa Cruz
French Guiana	Present	Native		Reflora (2017)
Suriname	Present	Native		Croat (2004)
Venezuela	Present	Native		Reflora (2017)

History of Introduction and Spread

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D. seguine was cultivated as a houseplant in England as early as 1759 (Barnes and Fox, 1955), although other sources list it as introduced to England in either 1820 or 1830 (Lowe and Howard, 1870; Lowe, 1872). The species is listed as cultivated in St. Kitts in 1901 (Alexander, 1901) and in Bermuda in 1918 (Britton, 1918).

Introductions

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Introduced to	Introduced from	Year	Reason	Introduced by	Established in wild through		References	Notes
Introduced to	Introduced from	Year	Reason	Introduced by	Natural reproduction	Continuous restocking	References	Notes
UK	South America	1759	Horticulture (pathway cause)		No	No	Barnes and Fox (1955)

Risk of Introduction

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D. seguine is widely cultivated as a houseplant and used as an outdoor ornamental plant in tropical areas (Croat, 2004; USDA-ARS, 2017). Plants may spread vegetatively by the dumping of garden waste (Space and Flynn, 2002).

Habitat

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In Brazil, herbarium specimens have been collected along roadsides, riverbanks and in forested areas (Reflora, 2017). In French Guiana, plants have been most commonly found growing on large stream boulders (Gibernau, 2015). In Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, D. seguine is found in swamps, moist forests and wet seepage areas, in sun to part sun conditions (Acevedo-Rodríguez and Strong, 2005). In Sri Lanka, D. seguine occurs along roadsides and in forested areas (SL Flora, 2017). In Fiji, it is considered a minor weed in waste places, along roadsides and in coconut plantations (HEAR, 2017). It has invaded intact forest ecosystems in Samoa (Space and Flynn, 2000), it is found in riparian secondary forests in Malaysia (Hashim et al., 2010) and in the Cook Islands it thrives in stream bottoms and moist areas in forests (Space and Flynn, 2002).

Habitat List

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Category	Sub-Category	Habitat	Presence	Status
Terrestrial

Biology and Ecology

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Genetics

The chromosome number for D. seguine is 2n = 34 (Croat, 2004). Genetic diversity is relatively high, compared to that of other clonal species (Cuartas-Hernández and Núñez-Farfán, 2006). In forest fragments, populations have reduced arrays of multilocus genotypes and reduced seed production, due to lack of pollen flow (Cuartas-Hernández and Núñez-Farfán, 2006), although this data may refer to D. oerstedii instead (Croat, 2004). A complete chloroplast sequence for D. seguine has been published (Wang Bin et al., 2016).

Reproductive Biology

D. seguine reproduces vegetatively from rhizomes (Space and Flynn, 2000). Flowers are pollinated by small beetles (Cuartas-Hernández et al., 2010). Female flowers are receptive one to two days before male flowers and inflorescences are thermogenic on the first night of female flower receptivity (Gibernau, 2015). Plants with more leaves have a greater number of inflorescences (Gibernau, 2015).

Physiology and Phenology

D. seguine can flower and mature fruit year-round, but most flowering takes place at the beginning and end of the dry season, between March and September (Croat, 2004).

Population Size and Structure

In Veracruz, Mexico, populations are dense, but patchily distributed, with only a few individuals flowering at any time (Cuartas-Hernández et al., 2010).

Associations

Flowers are pollinated by beetles (Croat, 2004). In French Guiana, the beetles Cyclocephala rustica and Erioscelis proba visited flowers of D. seguine (Gibernau, 2015). Seeds are bird-dispersed (Cuartas-Hernández and Núñez-Farfán, 2006).

Environmental Requirements

D. seguine grows in sun to part shade, in moist soils (Acevedo-Rodríguez and Strong, 2005).

Climate

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Climate	Status	Description
Af - Tropical rainforest climate	Preferred	> 60mm precipitation per month
Am - Tropical monsoon climate	Preferred	Tropical monsoon climate ( < 60mm precipitation driest month but > (100 - [total annual precipitation(mm}/25]))
Aw - Tropical wet and dry savanna climate	Tolerated	< 60mm precipitation driest month (in winter) and < (100 - [total annual precipitation{mm}/25])

Latitude/Altitude Ranges

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Latitude North (°N)	Latitude South (°S)	Altitude Lower (m)	Altitude Upper (m)
22	20

Air Temperature

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Parameter	Lower limit	Upper limit
Absolute minimum temperature (ºC)	1.7
Mean annual temperature (ºC)	26	27
Mean maximum temperature of hottest month (ºC)	31	33
Mean minimum temperature of coldest month (ºC)	21	22

Rainfall

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Parameter	Lower limit	Upper limit	Description
Dry season duration	2	0	number of consecutive months with <40 mm rainfall
Mean annual rainfall	1574	2899	mm; lower/upper limits

Rainfall Regime

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Bimodal
Uniform

Soil Tolerances

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Soil drainage

free
impeded

Soil reaction

neutral

Special soil tolerances

shallow

Natural enemies

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Natural enemy	Type	Life stages	Specificity	References
Dickeya dadantii	Pathogen	Roots/Stems	not specific
Glomerella cingulata	Pathogen	Leaves	not specific
Hoplolaimus seinhorsti	Parasite	Roots	not specific
Meloidogyne	Parasite	Roots	not specific
Myrothecium roridum	Pathogen	Leaves	not specific	Kirk, 2017
Rotylenchulus reniformis	Parasite	Roots	not specific

Notes on Natural Enemies

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Most information on natural enemies comes from house plant disease research (Balestra and Impiglia, 1996; Caliman et al., 2013; Hong et al., 2013) and research on parasitic nematodes that also affect banana trees (Quénéhervé et al., 2006).

Means of Movement and Dispersal

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Natural Dispersal

Seeds have been reported to be bird-dispersed (Cuartas-Hernández and Núñez-Farfán, 2006), although this report may refer to D. oerstedii instead (Croat, 2004).

Accidental Introduction

The species has repeatedly escaped from cultivation (Space and Flynn, 2002; SL Flora, 2017; HEAR, 2017; NCF, 2017).

Intentional Introduction

D. seguine is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant (Croat, 2004).

Pathway Causes

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Cause	Notes	Long Distance	Local	References
Botanical gardens and zoos	Found in at least 33 botanical garden collections	Yes	Yes	BGCI, 2017
Breeding and propagation		Yes	Yes	Croat, 2004
Escape from confinement or garden escape	Accidental		Yes	Space and Flynn, 2002
Garden waste disposal	Accidental		Yes	Space and Flynn, 2002
Horticulture		Yes	Yes	Croat, 2004
Internet sales		Yes		Dave's Garden, 2017
Landscape improvement			Yes	Space and Flynn, 2002
Nursery trade			Yes	Croat, 2004
Ornamental purposes		Yes	Yes	Croat, 2004
Seed trade		Yes		Dave's Garden, 2017

Pathway Vectors

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Vector	Notes	Long Distance	Local	References
Debris and waste associated with human activities			Yes	Space and Flynn, 2002
Mail		Yes		Dave’s Garden, 2017

Impact Summary

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Category	Impact
Cultural/amenity	Positive
Economic/livelihood	Positive and negative
Environment (generally)	Positive and negative
Human health	Positive and negative

Economic Impact

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The species is considered a minor weed in coconut plantations in Fiji (HEAR, 2017). It is also a weed of banana plantations in Martinique and host to several species of parasitic nematodes (Quénéhervé et al., 2006).

Environmental Impact

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Impact on Biodiversity

D. seguine crowds out species in moist forested areas and stream sides in Samoa (Space and Flynn, 2002).

Social Impact

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All parts of D. seguine are highly poisonous to people and animals (Arditti and Rodriguez, 1982; NCF, 2017). When ingested, sap causes blistering and swelling in the mouth that can be severe enough to prevent speaking and swallowing (NCF, 2017). Contact with sap can cause blistering (Arditti and Rodriguez, 1982).

Risk and Impact Factors

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Invasiveness

Invasive in its native range
Proved invasive outside its native range
Has a broad native range
Pioneering in disturbed areas
Tolerant of shade
Reproduces asexually

Impact outcomes

Negatively impacts agriculture
Negatively impacts forestry
Negatively impacts human health
Negatively impacts animal health
Reduced native biodiversity
Threat to/ loss of native species

Impact mechanisms

Causes allergic responses
Pest and disease transmission
Poisoning

Likelihood of entry/control

Highly likely to be transported internationally deliberately

Uses

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Economic Value

D. seguine is sold as an ornamental plant all around the world (USDA-ARS, 2017). The genus Dieffenbachia is among the top 10 foliage plants with the highest annual sales volume in the USA (Croat, 2004).

Social Benefit

D. seguine is used as poison for arrows in Brazil (Arditti and Rodriguez, 1982; NCF, 2017) and is also used in traditional medicine (Arditti and Rodriguez, 1982; Duke, 2009; USDA-ARS, 2017).

Uses List

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Environmental

Amenity
Landscape improvement

General

Botanical garden/zoo
Sociocultural value

Medicinal, pharmaceutical

Traditional/folklore

Ornamental

garden plant
Potted plant
Propagation material

Similarities to Other Species/Conditions

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D. seguine can be confused with other species of Dieffenbachia. In this species, petioles are shorter than the leaf blade and sharply sulcate (ribbed) on the free portion (Croat, 2004). The spadix of D. seguine is cylindrical and protrudes from the spathe, compared to Central American species of Dieffenbachia (for example, D. oerstedii and D. wendlandii), which have spathes tapered to the apex. D. seguine’s spathe is “caught in the protruded position when the spathe re-closes” (Croat, 2004). The spathe also has large, bicarpellate ovaries in D. seguine (Croat, 2004).

Prevention and Control

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Due to the variable regulations around (de)registration of pesticides, your national list of registered pesticides or relevant authority should be consulted to determine which products are legally allowed for use in your country when considering chemical control. Pesticides should always be used in a lawful manner, consistent with the product's label.

Prevention

Public awareness

An important measure is to discourage further planting of this species in areas where it can become invasive (Space and Flynn, 2002).

Control

Cultural control and sanitary measures

Given that D. seguine may spread by the dumping of garden waste, Space and Flynn (2002) suggest inter-island quarantine on the movement of this species in the Cook Islands.

Chemical control

The closely related D. oerstedii is controlled in banana plantations by using herbicides (Brenes-Prendas and Aguero-Alvarado, 2012).

Gaps in Knowledge/Research Needs

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Little information is available on the impact of this species where it has naturalized.

References

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Acevedo-Rodríguez, P., Strong, M. T., 2005. Monocotyledons and gymnosperms of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium, 52, 415 pp. http://botany.si.edu/Antilles/PRFlora/monocots/vol52web.pdf

Alexander, W. H., 1901. Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, 33. 207-219.

Arditti, J., Rodriguez, E., 1982. Dieffenbachia: uses, abuses and toxic constituents: a review. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 5(3), 293-302. http://escholarship.org/uc/item/26b242zs#page-1 doi: 10.1016/0378-8741(82)90015-0

Balestra, G. M., Impiglia, A, 1996. Occurrence of Erwinia chrysanthemi on Dieffenbachia maculata in Syria. Phytopathologia Mediterranea, 35(2), 127-128.

Barnes BA, Fox LE, 1955. Poisoning with “Dieffenbachia”. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 10(2), 173-181.

BGCI, 2017. Dieffenbachia seguine. Richmond, UK: Botanic Gardens Conservation International. https://www.bgci.org/plant_details.php?plantID=10997

Brenes-Prendas, S., Aguero-Alvarado, R., 2012. Toxicity of banana suckers by promisory herbicides for the control of Dieffenbachia oerstedii. Agronomía Mesoamericana, 23(1), 47-53. http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/src/inicio/HomRevRed.jsp?iCveEntRev=437

Britton, N. L., 1918. Flora of Bermuda, New York, USA: C. Scribner's Sons.

Caliman, M.E., Oliveira, C.S.L. de, Pereira, J., Bezerra, J.L., 2013. First report of Glomerella cingulata causing leaf spot on Dieffenbachia seguine in Brazil. Agrotrópica, 25(2), 125-128. http://www.ceplac.gov.br/paginas/agrotropica/revistas/agrotropica_25_2.pdf

Croat TB, 2004. Revision of Dieffenbachia (Araceae) of Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 91, 668-772. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27275321#page/682/mode/1up

Cuartas-Hernández, S., Núñez-Farfán, J., 2006. The genetic structure of the tropical understory herb Dieffenbachia seguine L. before and after forest fragmentation. Evolutionary Ecology Research, 8(6), 1061-1075. http://www.evolutionary-ecology.com

Cuartas-Hernández, S., Núñez-Farfán, J., Smouse, P. E., 2010. Restricted pollen flow of Dieffenbachia seguine populations in fragmented and continuous tropical forest. Heredity, 105(2), 197-204. http://www.nature.com/hdy doi: 10.1038/hdy.2009.179

Dave’s Garden, 2017. Dave’s Garden. Online resources. California, USA: Internet Brands. http://davesgarden.com/

Duke JA, 2009. Duke’s handbook of medicinal plants of Latin America, New York, USA: CRC Press.

Flora of Central Africa, 2017. The Checklist Flore d'Afrique Centrale. http://floreafriquecentrale.org/

Fosberg FR, Sachet MH, Royce O, 1987. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian monocotyledonae. Micronesica : Journal of the University of Guam, 20, 1-126.

Gibernau M, 2015. Pollination ecology of two Dieffenbachia in French Guiana. Aroideana, 38(2), 38-66. http://www.aroid.org/aroideana/supplement/Aroideana38EN2.pdf#page=38

Graveson R, 2012. The Plants of Saint Lucia (in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean). http://www.saintlucianplants.com/

Hashim NR, Hughes F, Bayliss-Smith T, 2010. Non-native species in floodplain secondary forests in Peninsular Malaysia. Environment Asia, 3(Special issue), 43-49. http://www.tshe.org/ea/pdf/vol3s%20p43-49.pdf

HEAR, 2017. Alien species in Hawaii. Hawaii Ecosystems at Risk. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA: University of Hawaii. http://www.hear.org/

Herrera K, Lorence DH , Flynn T, Balick MJ , 2010. Allertonia, in press, Lawai, Hawaii, USA: National Tropical Botanical Garden.146 pp.

Hong, C.F., Tsai, S.F., Yeh, H.C., Fan, M.C., 2013. First report of Myrothecium roridum causing myrothecium leaf spot on Dieffenbachia picta 'Camilla' in Taiwan. Plant Disease, 97(9), 1253. http://apsjournals.apsnet.org/loi/pdis doi: 10.1094/PDIS-02-13-0177-PDN

INPN, 2017. National Inventory of Natural Heritage. (Inventaire National du Patrimoine Naturel). Paris, France: Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle. https://inpn.mnhn.fr/accueil/recherche-de-donnees/especes/

Keng H, Chin SC, Tan HTW, 1998. The Concise Flora of Singapore Vol. II Monocotyledons, Singapore: Singapore University Press.

Lowe EJ, 1872. Beautiful leaved plants, London, England: Bell and Daldy. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50167090#page/9/mode/1up

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Quénéhervé, P., Chabrier, C., Auwerkerken, A., Topart, P., Martiny, B., Marie-Luce, S., 2006. Status of weeds as reservoirs of plant parasitic nematodes in banana fields in Martinique. Crop Protection, 25(8), 860-867. doi: 10.1016/j.cropro.2005.11.009

Reflora, 2017. Brazilian Flora Virtual Herbarium. http://reflora.jbrj.gov.br/reflora/herbarioVirtual/ConsultaPublicoHVUC/ConsultaPublicoHVUC.do

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Wang Bin, Han LiMin, Chen Chen, Wang ZheZhi, 2016. The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Dieffenbachia seguine (Araceae). Mitochondrial DNA Part A, 27(4), 2913-2914. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/19401736.2015.1060436#abstract

Distribution References

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NCF, 2017. Beware of the dumb cane plant (Dieffenbachia seguine)., Lagos, Nigeria: Nigerian Conservation Foundation. http://www.ncfnigeria.org/membership/item/113-beware-of-the-dumb-cane-plant-dieffenbachia-seguine

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Oviedo Prieto R, Herrera Oliver P, Caluff M G, et al, 2012. National list of invasive and potentially invasive plants in the Republic of Cuba - 2011. (Lista nacional de especies de plantas invasoras y potencialmente invasoras en la República de Cuba - 2011). Bissea: Boletín sobre Conservación de Plantas del Jardín Botánico Nacional de Cuba. 6 (Special Issue No. 1), 22-96.

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Quénéhervé P, Chabrier C, Auwerkerken A, Topart P, Martiny B, Marie-Luce S, 2006. Status of weeds as reservoirs of plant parasitic nematodes in banana fields in Martinique. Crop Protection. 25 (8), 860-867. DOI:10.1016/j.cropro.2005.11.009

Reflora, 2017. Brazilian Flora Virtual Herbarium., http://reflora.jbrj.gov.br/reflora/herbarioVirtual/ConsultaPublicoHVUC/ConsultaPublicoHVUC.do

Space JC, Flynn T, 2000. Observations on invasive plant species in American Samoa., Honolulu, Hawaii, USA: USDA Forest Service. http://www.hear.org/pier/reports/asreport.htm#m-native

Links to Websites

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Website	URL	Comment
GISD/IASPMR: Invasive Alien Species Pathway Management Resource and DAISIE European Invasive Alien Species Gateway	https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.m93f6	Data source for updated system data added to species habitat list.

Contributors

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27/02/17 Original text by:

Sylvan Kaufman, Sylvan Green Earth Consulting, Santa Fe, USA

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Dieffenbachia seguine (dumb cane)

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