---
title: "Spathiphyllum (peace lilies): classification, 76 accepted species, distribution and growing indoors | Floreboard"
url: https://floreboard.com/en/plants/spathiphyllum/
language: en
last_reviewed: 2026-10-24
publisher: Floreboard
---

L'Illustration horticole · Pl. CCCXCVII · 1880 · public domain

# Spathiphyllum Schott

peace lilies · Araceae

- **Accepted name:** Spathiphyllum Schott
- **First published:** H.W.Schott & S.L.Endlicher, Melet. Bot.: 22 (1832)
- **Family:** Araceae
- **Accepted species:** 76 (including 0 natural hybrids)
- **Native range:** 31 TDWG regions, Mexico to tropical America, with an outlying group in Malesia and the western Pacific
- **Common names:** peace lilies
- **Databases:** [POWO](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30003632-2) · [IPNI](https://www.ipni.org/n/30003632-2) · [WCVP](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/2232/taxon/193144) · [Catalogue of Life](https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/8W3P6) · [GBIF](https://www.gbif.org/species/2869649)

## Overview

Spathiphyllum belongs to the arum family, Araceae. Kew gives an unusual native range: Mexico to tropical America, plus an outlying group in Malesia and the western Pacific. The RHS notes that the peace lilies grown indoors come from tropical forests in Central America and Colombia and, despite the name, belong to the arum family rather than the lilies. WCVP records the common S. wallisii as native to Colombia and Venezuela.

## Classification and characters

Schott published the genus in 1832. CATE Araceae describes evergreen herbs with a short, erect to creeping stem, usually appearing stemless and sometimes stoloniferous; the spathe is membranous to slightly leathery and fully expanded, usually white, rarely green, turning green in fruit; and the spadix is cylindrical, erect, shorter than the spathe and usually stalked. The plate above is S. patinii from L’Illustration horticole (1880).

| Genus name | Published in |
| --- | --- |
| Amomophyllum Engl. | Gard. Chron., n.s., 7: 139 (1877) |
| Hydnostachyon Liebm. | Vidensk. Meddel. Naturhist. Foren. Kjøbenhavn 1849: 23 (1849) |
| Leucochlamys Poepp. ex Engl. | A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle, Monogr. Phan. 2: 230 (1879) |
| Massowia K.Koch | Bot. Zeitung (Berlin) 10: 277 (1852) |
| Spathiphyllopsis Teijsm. & Binn. | Natuurk. Tijdschr. Ned.-Indië 25: 400 (1863) |

## Distribution

WCVP records the genus as native to 31 TDWG botanical regions and introduced in 7 more.

BelizeBismarck ArchipelagoBrazil NorthBrazil NortheastBrazil SoutheastBrazil West-CentralCaroline Is.Central American Pacific Is.ColombiaCosta RicaEcuadorEl SalvadorFrench GuianaGuatemalaGuyanaHondurasMalukuMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestNew GuineaNicaraguaPanamáPeruPhilippinesSolomon Is.SulawesiSurinameTrinidad-TobagoVenezuela

### Introduced

BangladeshComorosCook Is.CubaDominican RepublicPuerto RicoVenezuelan Antilles

## Accepted species

WCVP accepts 76 species; names with × are natural hybrids. The count changes with revisions; checked 2026-10-24.

| Name | On this site |
| --- | --- |
| Spathiphyllum abelianum A.Rojas & J.M.Chaves |   |
| Spathiphyllum almirantense Croat |   |
| Spathiphyllum atrovirens Schott |   |
| Spathiphyllum ayalae Croat & O.Ortiz |   |
| Spathiphyllum barbourii Croat |   |
| Spathiphyllum bariense G.S.Bunting |   |
| Spathiphyllum blandum Schott |   |
| Spathiphyllum bobdressleri Croat & O.Ortiz |   |
| Spathiphyllum bonyicense Croat |   |
| Spathiphyllum brent-berlinii Croat |   |
| Spathiphyllum brevirostre (Liebm.) Schott |   |
| Spathiphyllum buntingianum Croat |   |
| Spathiphyllum cannifolium (Dryand. ex Sims) Schott |   |
| Spathiphyllum cardonanum Croat & Grayum |   |
| Spathiphyllum clewellii Croat |   |
| Spathiphyllum cochlearispathum (Liebm.) Engl. | 1 plate |
| Spathiphyllum commutatum Schott |   |
| Spathiphyllum cotonense M.Cedeño & O.Ortiz |   |
| Spathiphyllum croatii Diaz Jim. & Pérez-Farr. |   |
| Spathiphyllum cuspidatum Schott |   |
| Spathiphyllum darienense Croat & O.Ortiz |   |
| Spathiphyllum davidneillii Croat |   |
| Spathiphyllum diazii Croat |   |
| Spathiphyllum dressleri Croat & F.Cardona |   |
| Spathiphyllum floribundum (Linden & André) N.E.Br. | 1 plate |
| Spathiphyllum frailescanense F.J.-Pérez, Diaz Jim. & Pérez-Farr. |   |
| Spathiphyllum friedrichsthalii Schott |   |
| Spathiphyllum fulvovirens Schott |   |
| Spathiphyllum gardneri Schott |   |
| Spathiphyllum globulispadix Bogner & Nadruz |   |
| Spathiphyllum gracile G.S.Bunting |   |
| Spathiphyllum grandifolium Engl. |   |
| Spathiphyllum grazielae L.B.Sm. |   |
| Spathiphyllum guadalupense Diaz Jim. |   |
| Spathiphyllum hannonii Croat |   |
| Spathiphyllum hentrichianum Diaz Jim. |   |
| Spathiphyllum hubertkrusei Croat |   |
| Spathiphyllum humboldtii Schott |   |
| Spathiphyllum ivanportillae Croat & Weessies |   |
| Spathiphyllum jejunum G.S.Bunting |   |
| Spathiphyllum juninense K.Krause |   |
| Spathiphyllum kalbreyeri G.S.Bunting |   |
| Spathiphyllum kennedyae Croat |   |
| Spathiphyllum laeve Engl. |   |
| Spathiphyllum lanceifolium (Jacq.) Schott |   |
| Spathiphyllum lechlerianum Schott |   |
| Spathiphyllum luteynii Croat & O.Ortiz |   |
| Spathiphyllum maguirei G.S.Bunting |   |
| Spathiphyllum maldonadoanum Diaz Jim. |   |
| Spathiphyllum matudae G.S.Bunting |   |
| Spathiphyllum mawarinumae G.S.Bunting |   |
| Spathiphyllum minus G.S.Bunting |   |
| Spathiphyllum mixtecorum Diaz Jim. & Pérez-Farr. |   |
| Spathiphyllum monachinoi G.S.Bunting |   |
| Spathiphyllum montanum (R.A.Baker) Grayum |   |
| Spathiphyllum morii Croat & O.Ortiz |   |
| Spathiphyllum munniae Croat |   |
| Spathiphyllum neblinae G.S.Bunting |   |
| Spathiphyllum ortgiesii Regel |   |
| Spathiphyllum ortizii Croat |   |
| Spathiphyllum patinii (R.Hogg) N.E.Br. | 1 plate |
| Spathiphyllum patulinervum G.S.Bunting |   |
| Spathiphyllum perezii G.S.Bunting |   |
| Spathiphyllum phryniifolium Schott |   |
| Spathiphyllum pygmaeum Bogner |   |
| Spathiphyllum quindiuense Engl. |   |
| Spathiphyllum schlechteri (Engl. & K.Krause) Nicolson |   |
| Spathiphyllum schomburgkii Schott |   |
| Spathiphyllum silvicola R.A.Baker |   |
| Spathiphyllum solomonense Nicolson |   |
| Spathiphyllum tenerum Engl. |   |
| Spathiphyllum uspanapaense Matuda |   |
| Spathiphyllum wallisii Regel |   |
| Spathiphyllum wendlandii Schott |   |
| Spathiphyllum wilfridoanum Diaz Jim. |   |
| Spathiphyllum zetekianum Standl. |   |

## Historic plates

Plates in date order; the printed names are kept as they appear, current names are on the species pages and the topic page.

- [](https://floreboard.com/plants/plates/illustration-horticole-159.jpg)Spathiphyllum floribundumL'Illustration horticole · 159 · 1874, L. Stroobant, name from Commons, unverified
- [](https://floreboard.com/plants/plates/illustration-horticole-189.jpg)Spathiphyllum cochlearispathumL'Illustration horticole · 189 · 1874, L. Stroobant, name from Commons, unverified
- [](https://floreboard.com/plants/plates/ih-27-397.jpg)Spathiphyllum Patini, N. E. BrownL'Illustration horticole · Pl. CCCXCVII · 1880,

## Growing indoors and safety

The RHS advises bright, indirect light, such as near a window away from strong summer sun; deep shade slows growth and makes flowering unlikely. Ordinary room temperatures of 12–24 °C suit them, away from radiators and cold draughts. Underwatering makes them droop alarmingly, but they usually recover quickly once watered; fluoride in tap water can damage the foliage, so rainwater or filtered water is better; they prefer moderate humidity. Flowers appear mainly in spring and summer, last for months and fade to green; too little light is the commonest reason for no flowers.

The RHS warns that peace lilies are poisonous: wear gloves and keep them out of reach of children and pets. The ASPCA lists Spathiphyllum as toxic to dogs and cats: its insoluble calcium oxalates cause intense burning and irritation of the mouth, tongue and lips, excessive drooling, vomiting and difficulty swallowing.

## Further reading

- [Reference library](https://floreboard.com/en/library/)

## References

- [WCVP · World Checklist of Vascular Plants (via ChecklistBank dataset 2232)](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/2232) · accessed 2026-10-24
- [Kew (POWO data on the ColPlanta site) · Spathiphyllum, with genus description from CATE Araceae](https://colplanta.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30003632-2/general-information)
- [RHS · How to grow peace lilies](https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/peace-lilies/how-to-grow-peace-lilies)
- [ASPCA Animal Poison Control · Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum)](https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/peace-lily)

Names, places of publication, synonyms and distribution checked against WCVP (2026-10-24); the text follows the cited sources and awaits specialist review.