Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A genus of plants, of the natural order Araceœ, natives of tropical America.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun a genus of evergreen perennial herbs of tropical America with lush foliage and poisonous sap; often cultivated as houseplants.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- proper noun A taxonomic
genus within thefamily Araceae — the mother-in-law's tongue,dumb cane and similar plants.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun evergreen perennial herbs of tropical America with lush foliage and poisonous sap; often cultivated as houseplants
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The understory is dominated by shrubs of Aphelandra micans, Besleria disgrega, Psycotria macrophylla, and Hoffmannia apodantha, together with large colonies of giant herbs such as Musaceae (Heliconia bihai, H. revoluta), Araceae (Dieffenbachia maculata), Marantaceae, and many ferns.
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A third plant was Dieffenbachia seguine, the common “dumbcane” of Jamaica.
The Serpent and the Rainbow Wade Davis 1985
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Dieffenbachia: The low-maintenance dieffenbachia plant has large, colorful leaves.
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This impressive centrepiece is a Dieffenbachia, of the arum family.
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Dieffenbachia) is a popular houseplant, but not everyone is aware (particularly if you don't read the labels on plants you buy) that the plant's sap is poisonous, causing a range of symptoms including inflammation of the mouth and a tingling sensation on the tongue if chewed.
Horticultural 2009
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