Epipremnum aureum 'Marble queen'

Marble Queen since 1988

The cream-and-green ‘Marble Queen’ has been cultivated under this name since 1988.

Wild Epipremnum aureum grows in Mo‘orea’s wet forests. Young stems carry small leaves near the forest floor before climbing trees, where the leaves become much larger. Flowering is exceptionally rare, and pieces of stem often root to form new vines.

Care for supported aroid vines

• Light: Epipremnum ‘Marble queen’ grows well in bright, filtered light, where its cream-green marbling remains easy to see. Shield very pale areas from hot midday sun.
• Watering: Allow the upper root zone to approach dryness, then water the entire rootball and drain it completely. Avoid leaving the mix saturated or repeatedly waiting for the leaves to wilt heavily.
• Temperature: Shield it from chilling air and strong heat sources.
• Climbing: Guide the nodes, the joints beneath the leaves, onto a textured vertical support. With support, the leaves can become much larger but usually remain broad and unsplit; deep divisions are uncommon.
• Pruning and propagation: Root cuttings with at least one node and a stem section containing both green and cream tissue. Cut a persistently all-green shoot back to the last marbled node to retain the cultivar pattern.

Troubleshooting Epipremnum aureum 'Marble queen'

• Cream marbling and green shoots: Fine cream-green marbling is normal across firm leaves. A fully green shoot can appear when its growing tip begins making only green tissue. Infection, excess fertiliser and a light problem do not explain this shoot change. Remove it back to its point of origin only if maintaining the marbled form is the goal.
• Crisp browning in pale sectors: Large pale areas show dehydration, hot glass or abrupt sun damage clearly. Check if the patch is dry and restricted to the exposed surface, then stabilise root moisture or reduce the exposure. A water-soaked, expanding edge, soft leaf stalk or fungal growth calls for a different response.
• Insects and mites: Inspect both sides of every patterned leaf. Thrips leave silver scarring and black droppings; mites make clusters of pale pinpricks, sometimes with fine webbing; mealybugs or scale leave insects, wax or honeydew. Remove visible pests. Test a houseplant product whose label names the pest on a small cream area. If the tissue remains unmarked, treat the other affected surfaces and follow the label's repeat timing.
• Yellowing or loss of firmness: Use pot weight, moisture in the middle of the rootball and root texture together. A dark root whose outer layer slides away easily can no longer supply the leaves and should be removed. Repot sound tissue into clean, airy substrate and keep drainage water separate from other pots.

Epipremnum aureum ‘Marble queen’ is toxic to people and pets

• Keep this plant away from children, cats and dogs.
• Its leaves and stems contain insoluble calcium oxalate crystals, which can irritate the mouth, throat, skin and eyes.
• Chewing may cause burning pain, drooling, swelling, vomiting or difficulty swallowing. Contact a veterinarian or medical professional after exposure, especially if swelling or breathing problems occur.

Who first published the name Epipremnum aureum?

Epipremnum combines Greek epi, meaning upon, with premnon, meaning tree trunk, referring to the way the vine attaches to a support.

Heinrich Wilhelm Schott established the genus Epipremnum in 1857 in Bonplandia (Hannover), volume 5, page 45.

Jean Jules Linden and Édouard-François André first described it as Pothos aureus in 1880 in L’Illustration Horticole, volume 27, page 69. George Sydney Bunting later placed it in Epipremnum as Epipremnum aureum in 1964 in Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, volume 50, page 28.