Aroid is the common name for members of the Araceae family of plants. Flowers appear on a type of inflorescence, called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by a spathe, or leaf-like hood.
Anthurium (Flamingo lily) and Zantedeschia (Calla lily) are two well-known members of this family, as are Caladium, Dieffenbachia, and Elephant ears. Spathiphyllum, a common house plant, is also a member of the Aroid family.
The largest of the Aroid family, Titan Arum, was originally discovered in Sumatra. This plant, as well as several others, are thermogenic (heat-producing). One reason for this is that the heat attracts insects, usually beetles, to pollinate the plant. Examples of thermogenic Aroids are: Titan Arum, Elephant foot yam, dead horse arum lily, and voodoo lily. Some of these types also give off a pungent smell, resembling a dead animal, to attract flies for pollination.
Two types of aroids are edible: the Taro and the Mexican Breadfruit, shown below.
There are 104 genera and more than 3700 species in the Aroid, or Araceae, family.
Sources: The International Aroid Society aroid.org
Wikipedia wikipedia.org
Exotic Plant Manual, Alfred Byrd Graf, copyright 1978