Pothos is a genus of tropical flowering plants in the family Araceae (tribe Potheae), placed within the order Alismatales. The genus is native to a broad arc of the Old World tropics: China, the Indian subcontinent, Australia, New Guinea, Southeast Asia, and scattered islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Plants in the genus are climbing or scrambling hemi-epiphytes typical of humid tropical forest. The type species, Pothos scandens, illustrates the group's distinctive leaf architecture: the petiole is expanded into a flattened, wing-like cladode that bears a single terminal leaflet, giving each leaf a jointed, two-part appearance unlike most aroids.
Pothos is often confused with the popular houseplant known colloquially as "pothos" (Epipremnum aureum, sometimes called "devil's ivy"), which was once classified in this genus but has long since been transferred to the separate genus Epipremnum. The true Pothos species are far less common in cultivation.
Distribution
The genus is native to China (including Yunnan), the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei), New Guinea, Australia, Madagascar, the Seychelles, the Comoro Islands, and various other Pacific and Indian Ocean islands.
Taxonomy Notes
Pothos belongs to tribe Potheae within the family Araceae. Its type species is Pothos scandens L. The genus name is frequently misapplied to Epipremnum aureum, a separate aroid genus whose common name "pothos" derives from its former placement here.
