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dieffenbachia
Feb. 14th, 2011 07:32 amdieffenbachia (dee-fuhn-BAK-ee-uh) - n., any of several tropical American plants of the genus Dieffenbachia with variegated foliage.
Members of the lily family. Often grown as pot plants because their striped leaves are decorative and, as a jungle undergrowth, they are shade-tolerant. Do not eat: they are caustic like taro. Named after Ernst Dieffenbach (1811-1855), a German physician and naturalist who was not the describer, as his fieldwork was done in New Zealand -- instead, it was a posthumous commemoration made around 1900.
---L.
Members of the lily family. Often grown as pot plants because their striped leaves are decorative and, as a jungle undergrowth, they are shade-tolerant. Do not eat: they are caustic like taro. Named after Ernst Dieffenbach (1811-1855), a German physician and naturalist who was not the describer, as his fieldwork was done in New Zealand -- instead, it was a posthumous commemoration made around 1900.
---L.
