Scrambling plants sometimes with waxy stems. Leaves often marked with greygreen. Juvenile leaves arrow- or heart-shaped. Adult leaf blades with divisions from a radius (pedate), the central segment largest with the lateral ones having 2-5 further divisions; stalks long. Inflorescences 4-11 per axil. Spathe about 10 cm long, green to cream and with an ellipsoid tube.

A number of variegated leaf cultivars are available.

Mexico to Panama.

S. auritum (L.) Schott, Five Fingers, from Jamaica and Hispaniola, has glossy leaves that are 3-5-parted, the outer ones with 'eared' bases. Spathe to about 25 cm long, yellowish but purplish in the throat.

Source: Spencer, R. (2005). Araceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.