Caladium bicolor
(heart of Jesus)

Preferred Common Name

• heart of Jesus

Other Scientific Names

• Alocasia roezlii N.E.Br.
• Arum bicolor Aiton
• Arum pulchrum Salisb.
• Arum vermitoxicum Vell
• Caladium albopunctatissimum Jacob-Makoy ex H.Karst.
• Caladium amoenum Engl.
• Caladium argyrospilum Lem.
• Caladium barraquinii Hérincq
• Caladium brongniartii Lem.
• Caladium chantinii Lem.
• Caladium concolor K.Koch
• Caladium connaertii Engl.
• Caladium curwadlii Engl.
• Caladium devosianum Lem.
• Caladium discolor Engl.
• Caladium duchartrei Engl.
• Caladium dussii Sieber & Voss
• Caladium eckhartii Lem. ex Engl.
• Caladium enkeanum K.Koch
• Caladium firmulum Schott
• Caladium gaerdtii K.Koch and Fint.
• Caladium griseoargenteum Engl.
• Caladium haageanum K.Koch
• Caladium medioradiatum L.Linden and Rodigas
• Caladium neumannii Lem.
• Caladium pallidum K.Koch and C.D.Bouché
• Caladium regale Lem.
• Caladium rubrovenium Engl.
• Caladium splendens K.Koch and Fint.
• Caladium steudneriifolium Engl.
• Caladium thelemannii Verschaff.
• Caladium vellozoanum Schott
• Cyrtospadix bicolor (Aiton) Britton and P.Wilson

International Common Names

• English: angel wings; angel-wings; artist's pallet; caladium
• Spanish: corazón de Jesús; corazón de Maria; malanga de jardín; malanguita
• French: palette de peintre
• Portuguese: tinhorão

Local Common Names

• Brazil: tinhorão
• Costa Rica: corazón de Jesús; corazón de María
• Cuba: corazón de cabrito; malanga; malanguilla; malanguita cimarrona; paleta de pintor; papagayo
• Dominican Republic: cananga; lágrimas de maría; paleta de pintor
• Haiti: coeur saignant
• India: artist's pallet; caladium; elephant's ear; fancy-leaf caladium
• Nigeria: spotted cocoyam
• Panama: corazon de Jesus; wild coco
• Puerto Rico: caladio; cara de caballo; paleta de pintor; venas de jesús; yautía de jardín
• USA: angel-wings; artist's pallet

• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Plantae
•         Phylum: Spermatophyta
•             Subphylum: Angiospermae
•                 Class: Monocotyledonae
•                     Order: Arales
•                         Family: Araceae
•                             Genus: Caladium
•                                 Species: Caladium bicolor

The family Araceae comprises 123 genera and about 4150 species distributed mostly in tropical areas in the New World, but also in Australia and Africa (Stevens, 2012). Araceae is a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants also known as the “aroid family”. The subfamily Aroideae includes 75 genera and 2305 species (Stevens, 2012).

The genus Caladium is native to the Neotropics (Acevedo-Rodríguez and Strong, 2005). The exact number of species in the genus Caladium is still a matter of discussion, varying from seven (Madison, 1981) to 17 species (Croat, 1994). The debate mainly centers on the classification of three species: Caladium bicolor, Caladium marmoratum, and Caladium picturatum. Madison (1981) merged these three species into one single species: C. bicolor (sensu Madison). However, this treatment is considered to be too broad by some taxonomists. Croat (1994) maintained the species status for each of these three species and considered that the genus was comprised of 17 species. More recently, Mayo et al. (1997) reclassified the genus into 12 species while the most recent version of The Plant List (2013) recognized 14 species. Other authors have proposed to refer to the cultivated caladiums as Caladium × hortulanum (Birdsey, 1951). It is generally believed that cultivated caladiums have resulted from hybridization among C. bicolor (sensu stricto), C. picturatum, and/or Caladium schomburgkii Schott (Birdsey, 1951; Wilfret, 1993; Deng, 2012).

C. bicolor is a glabrous, erect acaulescent herb with a fleshy corm at base. Leaves 1-2; blades pointing downward, 30 × 20 cm, chartaceous, usually with small, irregular whitish or pinkish spots, or variegated along secondary veins, less often completely green, glaucous beneath, the apex acute or shortly acuminate, the base peltate, cordate, the margins more or less wavy; petioles erect, 35-55 cm long, sheathing, white at the very base, usually with purple stripes. Inflorescences axillary, ascending, solitary; peduncles as long as or little shorter than the petioles, cylindrical, green, usually with purple stripes; flowers unisexual; spathe chartaceous, glaucous, to 14 cm long, the blade twice as long as the tube, withering, elliptic, apiculate at apex; spadix shorter than the spathe, the staminate zone twice as long as the pistillate (Acevedo-Rodríguez and Strong, 2005).

According to Madison (1981), C. bicolor is native to South and Central America where it is widespread, being reported from Costa Rica and Panama, the Amazon basin of Suriname and throughout most of the Brazilian coast (Maia and Schlindwein, 2006). In 1704, wild plants of C. bicolor collected in Suriname were sent to the Amsterdam Botanical Garden (DeFilipps et al., 2004). The type material used to describe the species originated from specimens introduced into England in 1737, from plants cultivated in Madeira (Madison, 1981).

In the West Indies, this species appears in herbarium collections made as early as 1879 in Martinique, 1885 in Puerto Rico, and 1892 in Guadeloupe (US National Herbarium). In Florida (USA), plants of C. bicolor have been cultivated and commercialized since 1905 (Sheehan, 1960). In Hawaii, C. bicolor was first collected in 1975 in cultivation and by 2008 it was reported as naturalized in Puna and South Hilo districts (Resslar, 2010).

The majority of the C. bicolor plants commercialized around the world are cultivars produced from hybridization between breeding lines. Caladium breeding was pioneered in France in the mid-1800s and later in the United States in 1970s (Wilfret, 1993; Deng, 2012). At present, about 1500 cultivars of this decorative species have been developed and are cultivated around the world (DeFilipps et al., 2004).

Soil drainage

• free
• seasonally waterlogged

Soil reaction

• acid
• neutral

Soil texture

• heavy
• light
• medium

C. bicolor spreads by seed and vegetatively by rhizomes and tubers. In cultivation it is propagated by division of the tubers (Madison, 1981; Deng, 2012).

C. bicolor is host of Spodoptera littoralis, one of the most destructive agricultural lepidopterous pests within its subtropical and tropical range (EPPO, 1997).

C. bicolor is a fast-growing herb with the capability to escape from cultivation and become naturalized in the wild. Once naturalized, it grows forming “scattered patches” which alter native plant communities by displacing native species, changing community structures and ecological functions (Space et al., 2003; Maia and Schlindwein, 2006; Herrera et al., 2010; PIER, 2016; Trinidad Biodiversity, 2016).

• Proved invasive outside its native range
• Has a broad native range
• Abundant in its native range
• Tolerant of shade
• Benefits from human association (i.e. it is a human commensal)
• Long lived
• Fast growing
• Has propagules that can remain viable for more than one year
• Reproduces asexually

• Ecosystem change/ habitat alteration
• Reduced native biodiversity
• Threat to/ loss of native species

• Competition - monopolizing resources
• Pest and disease transmission
• Hybridization
• Rapid growth
• Rooting

• Highly likely to be transported internationally deliberately

Economic Value

C. bicolor is extensively commercialized and cultivated as a foliage ornamental and potted plant (Acevedo-Rodríguez and Strong, 2005; USDA-ARS, 2016). More than 1500 cultivars of this decorative plant species have been developed and are cultivated around the world (DeFilipps et al., 2004; Deng, 2012). Extracts from leaves and stems of C. bicolor have moderate antibacterial and antifungal activities and a recent study show that these extracts can be used as raw material for pharmaceutical preparations to treat infections (Azuwike et al., 2016).

Social Benefit

In South America, C. bicolor is used in traditional medicine to treat different illnesses. The powdered tuber is used to treat facial skin blemishes. All parts of the leaf are macerated in fresh water for an external bath to remedy numerous skin illnesses. Crushed leaves are used in veterinary medicine to destroy vermin on sores of cattle (DeFilipps et al., 2004).