International Aroid Society

Now officially part of the IAS Aroid Cultivar Registry.

Meet Colocasia ‘Mistyk’. The name reflects what makes it special: foliage that shifts and changes depending on how the light hits it. This cultivar was created and named by Jennifer Cesaroni.

Dark green to metallic bronze leaves. Pink-purple venation and undersides. A compact, clumping habit that keeps all that drama contained. ‘Mistyk’ pulls from parents ‘Redemption’ and ‘Black Stem’ and manages to outshine them both.

Do you prefer Colocasias with dramatic color contrast or oversized foliage?

Curious to learn more? Explore the full profile in the Aroid Cultivar Registry at the link in our bio.

The International Aroid Society was built by people who couldn’t stop asking questions about aroids, and that curiosity still drives everything we do.

As an IAS member, you’ll have access to our scientific journal, Aroideana and a global network of growers, collectors, and researchers who are always willing to go deep on the details. Join a community where your passion has a place to grow. Learn more here: aroid.org/join

The wait is almost over!
Aroids After Dark tickets drop to the general public tonight at midnight. Members, this is your last chance to grab yours first. Only 300 seats available. Set your alarm and get your tickets at aroid.org/expo (link is also in the bio).

Thousands of rare plants. Vendors from around the world. The growers, botanists, and collectors who make this hobby what it is. All under one roof in Miami for one weekend only.

Whether you’re hunting for that plant you’ve been chasing for years, reconnecting with old friends, or discovering the aroid community for the first time, this is the place to be.

Get your ticket today for as low as $15. Swipe to see what’s waiting for you.

🗓️ September 19-20, 2026
📍 Miami-Dade County Fair & Expo
🎟️ Aroid.org/expo

Somewhere out there is a room full of people who also talk to their plants, constantly check the underside of their leaves, and get just as excited for new growth as you do. We call it the Tropical Plant Expo.

Come find your people, your plants, and your next excuse to rearrange the whole living room. Lectures, workshops, new plant friends, and more plants than you can responsibly take home all in one weekend. September 19-20, 2026 at the Miami-Dade County Fair & Expo. Doors open at 9am. Tickets at the link in bio. You’ve been warned.

We’re consolidating a fragmented stack (Wix public site, separate Wix cultivar registry, Wild Apricot for memberships, Aroideana PDF archives, committee tools) into a unified, Society-owned platform. This isn’t a website redesign. It’s the foundation for our public presence, member operations, structured scientific knowledge, archival access, and our cultivar registry as the International Cultivar Registration Authority for Araceae.

Core requirements:
IAS owns all data, repositories, infrastructure, and credentials. Volunteers must be able to operate the system without ongoing vendor dependency. Migration must happen without operational disruption. Full documentation and transferability are mandatory.

Budget:
$40,000 to $80,000 USD
Timeline:
six to nine months from kickoff through handoff
Evaluation priorities, in order: ownership and transferability, architecture quality, functional completeness, migration strategy, team experience, volunteer operability, pricing transparency, timeline realism, post-handoff support.

If you build durable infrastructure for scientific or membership organizations and the ownership model resonates with you, we’d welcome a proposal. The full RFP is available on request.

Submissions and questions:
[email protected]

Subject line:
“IAS Website RFP Response – [Respondent Name]”

Please share with anyone in your network who builds this kind of work.

Deadline for submission is July 31, 2026

Happy International Day for Biological Diversity.

The Araceae family is one of the most diverse plant families on Earth, with 144 recognized genera and approximately 4,500 known species spanning every continent except Antarctica, though many experts believe the true number is much higher. From the towering Amorphophallus titanum, one of the largest flowering structures on Earth, to the tiny aquatic Lemna minor, commonly known as duckweed, aroids have evolved into an astonishing array of sizes, textures, colors, and habitats.

Each aroid species represents millions of years of adaptation to a specific environment and community of organisms. Many have coevolved with highly specific pollinators using heat, scent, and elaborate trap mechanisms to lure the exact flies or beetles they depend on. Take the Colocasiomyia flies for example; certain species of this fly have been known to have highly specialized relationships with Alocasia, Colocasia and Rhaphidophora.

Lose the aroid, and you may lose its pollinator. Lose the pollinator, and plants may suffer. Biodiversity isn’t a collection of isolated species, it’s a web, and aroids are woven throughout it.

And here’s the harsh reality, new aroid species are still being discovered every year, even as habitat loss threatens to erase species before we ever know they existed.

As a community built around one of the most diverse plant families on the planet, we have every reason to care deeply about what biodiversity means and what its loss would cost us.

At the International Aroid Society, all profits go directly to funding aroid research and conservation. By becoming a member and supporting the Tropical Plant Expo, you are directly supporting this mission.

To become a member: aroid.org/join
To grab a ticket: aroid.org/expo

Photos provided by: Denise Brown

Members, your early access window is almost up. Joey Santore of Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't and Fraser Cook are taking the stage September 19th in Miami. With only 300 seats available, tickets will go fast once they open to the general public on June 1st. Grab yours now at aroid.org/expo before they’re gone.

All proceeds support aroid cultivation and research. Link in bio.