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Thomas Croat, Ph.D.Thomas Croat, Ph.D.
P.A. Schulze Curator of Botany
Latin America

Faculty Associate of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis
Adjunct Associate Professor, St. Louis University
Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Missouri-St. Louis

office phone: + 1-314-577-5163
fax: + 1-314-577-95
email: thomas.croat@mobot.org

Missouri Botanical Garden
4344 Shaw Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63110
USA

Education
Ph.D., University of Kansas, 1967
M.A., University of Kansas, 1966
B.A., Simpson College, Iowa, 1962
Systematics and Ecology of Neotropical Araceae Floristics of Araceae for Neotropical Areas Horticulture of Araceae Phenological Variations of Neotropical Floras Development of Lucid Keys to aroid genera
For Dr. Croat’s complete CV with list of publications, click here (Adobe Acrobat Reader required).
Research Emphases Revision of Dieffenbachia of Central America Preliminary Revision of Dieffenbachia of South America Revision of Rhodospatha for the Neotropics Revision of Rhodospatha (with Xavier Delannay) Revision of Chlorospatha (with Lynn Hannon) Araceae for the Flora of Mesoamerica Araceae for the Flora of Ecuador Araceae for the Flora of Guianas Araceae for the Flora of Bolivia Araceae for the Flora of Bajo Calima, Valle Dept., Colombia (with Dorothy Bay) Araceae for the Flora of La Planada, Nariño Dept., Colombia (with Jeffrey Lake) Araceae of Reserva Yotoco, Valle Dept., Colombia (with Eugenio Escobar) Araceae of Lita-San Lorenzo Region
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Selected Publications Marco Cedeño-Fonseca, Orlando O. Ortiz, Oscar Cubero Vásquez, Edwin Trujillo Trujillo, Thomas B. Croat & Michael H. Grayum. 2023. Rhodospatha forgetii N.E.Br. (Araceae-Monsteroideae-Anepsiadeae), forgotten for 110 years, and three new Rhodospatha species from Costa Rica and Panama. Aroideana Vol 46 No 3, 2023 Thomas B. Croat. 2023. A revision of Syngonium Schott (Araceae - Caladieae) for Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. Aroideana Vol 46 No 2, 2023. Thomas B. Croat & Bart P.E. De Dijn. 2023. Xanthosoma blandum Schott (Araceae) neotypification, a first report for Suriname with notes on its floral biology and on ethnobotany of the genus in the country. Aroideana Vol 46 No 1, 2023. Pedro Díaz Jiménez, Edith Carrera-Sánchez, Thomas B. Croat, Miguel Ángel Pérez-Farrera, Francisco J. Gómez-Marín, Heiko Hendrich & Pedro A. Aguilar Rodríguez. 2023. A new species of Anthurium sect. Cordato-punctatum (Araceae) from Veracruz, Mexico. Phytotaxa 597 (3) © 2023 Magnolia Press. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.597.3.4. Pedro Díaz Jiménez, Miguel Ángel Pérez-Farrera, Thomas B. Croat & Pedro A. Aguilar-Rodríguez. 2022. A new species of Anthurium (Araceae) from Mexico and resurrection of Anthurium macdougallii. Nordic Journal of Botany 2022: e03737 DOI: 10.1111/njb.03737. Published 30 December 2022. Oscar Mauricio López-Floriano, Thomas B. Croat & Marco A. Correa-Munera. 2022. A new species of Anthurium Sect. Leptanthurium from Colombian Amazonia. Phytotaxa 572 (2): 217–221. Copyright © 2022 Magnolia Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.572.2.9. Croat, T. B. 2022. Three new species of South American Anthurium (Araceae) – incidences of distant collaboration. Aroideana Vol. 45(3): 1–31. Croat, T. B. 2022. A new species of pendent-leafed Anthurium in sect. Porphyrochitonium Araceae from Costa Rica. Aroideana Vol. 45(3): 32–44. Croat, T. B. & T. E. Mines. 2022. New species of Philodendron subgenus Philodendron (Araceae) from Ecuador and Peru. Aroideana Vol. 45(3): 45–83. Croat, T. B. & O. O. Ortiz. 2022. Some final novelities in Anthurium to complete the Araceae of Mexico and Central America. Aroideana Vol. 45(3): 84–99. Thomas B. Croat. 2022. Philodendron × joepii, a new nothospecies in section Schizophyllum (Araceae) from French Guiana, and Philodendron ‘Bette Waterbury’, a new cultivar name for a similar hybrid of unknown original provenance. Aroideana Vol. 45(2): 1-17. T.B. Croat & O.O. Ortiz. 2022. New species of Philodendron subgen. Philodendron (Araceae) from Central America. Aroideana Vol. 45(2): 18-33. Thomas B. Croat, Michael H. Grayum. 2022. A new species of Philodendron subgenus Philodendron (Araceae) from Costa Rica. Aroideana Vol. 45(2): 34-47. Jay Vannini, Thomas B. Croat, Juan José Castillo Mont. 2022. New species and a new combination of Anthurium (Araceae) from Central America. Aroideana Vol. 45(2): 471-532. Thomas B. Croat, James J. Grib, Orlando O. Ortiz, Joselyn Tsai, Cavas Engineer & Ann Grace. 2022. The current status of Anthurium sect. Porphyrochitonium (Araceae) and allies, with many new species from Central and South America. Aroideana Vol. 45(2): 48-436. Thomas B. Croat, Peter Brownless & David Belt. 2022. A new Anthurium (Araceae) species found in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Aroideana Vol. 45(1): 229-248. Van Du Nguyen, Chi Toan Le, Quang Diep Dinh, Thi Van Anh Nguyen, Van Tien Tran & Thomas B. Croat. 2022. Typhonium kbangense, a new species of Araceae (Aroidea–Areae)from Central Vietnam. Nordic Journal of Botany 2022: e03601. Nordic Society Oikos. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. DOI: 10.1111/njb.03601. Orlando O. Ortiz, Thomas B. Croat, Oris Rodríguez-Reyes, Jorge Ceballos, Marco Cedeño-Fonseca & M. Marcela Mora. 2022. Taxonomic Novelties in Philodendron subg. Philodendron (Araceae) from Panama. Novon 30: 18–42. Version of record first published online on 4 March 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3417/2022656. Miguel Ángel Pérez-Farrera, Pedro Díaz Jiménez, Thomas B. Croat, Heiko Hentrichs, José Padilla Vega & Pedro A. Aguilar-Rodríguez. 2022. Anthurium tacotalpense (Araceae), a new species from Mexico. Phytotaxa 000 (0), 2022. Magnolia Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.00.0.0. Xavier Delannay & Thomas B. Croat. 2021. Florula of Araceae from the Cordillera del Cóndor (Ecuador and Peru). Aroideana International Aroid Society, Inc. Vol 44 No 2. December 7,2021. Xavier Cornejo & Tom Croat. 2021. Anthurium gallardoae and Xanthosoma isabellanum (Araceae), two new species from coastal Ecuador. Phytotaxa 505 (1): 107–113. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.505.1.8. Orlando O. Ortiz & Thomas B. Croat. 2021. Dieffenbachia batistae and D. mortoniana (Araceae, Aroideae, Spathicarpeae), new species from Panama. Ann. Bot. Fennici 58: 95-99. Helsinki, 18 January 2021. Thomas B. Croat & Nils Weessies. 2020. A New Species of Spathiphyllum (Araceae) from the Ecuadorian Oriente. Aroideana Vol. 43 Nos. 3 & 4, 2020, pp 22-34. Marco Cedeño-Fonseca, Orlando O. Ortíz, Alejandro Zuluaga, Mario Jiménez-Segura & Thomas B. Croat. 2020. A new orange-fruited species of Monstera (Araceae: Monsteroideae) from Panama. Webbia. Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Geography 75(2): 251-262, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/jopt-9680. Pedro Díaz Jiménez, Pedro A. Aguilar-Rodríguez, Thomas B. Croat, Marco Cedeño-Fonseca, Martin Alarcón Montano, Yossi Yovel & M. Cristina Macswiney G. 2020. Philodendron guadarramanum (Araceae), a new species from Tabasco, Mexico. October 2020. Phytotaxa 468 (3): 296–300. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.468.3.5. Orlando O. Ortiz, Thomas B. Croat, Robert Hormell & Marco Cedeño-Fonseca. 2020. Advances towards the completion of the Anthurium Flora of Central America (Araceae, Pothoideae): contribution of thirty-one new species from Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama. Phytotaxa 467. 61 p. 22 October 2020. Thomas B. Croat, Dylan P. Hannon & Ronald S. Kaufmann. 2020. A New Species of Philodendron subgenus Philodendron from Northern Colombia. Aroideana Vol. 43 Nos. 3 & 4, 2020, pp 35-53. Thomas B. Croat & J. Moonen. 2020. A new hybrid, Philodendron x lucasiourum Croat & Moonen (Araceae) from French Guiana. Aroideana Vol. 43 Nos. 1 & 2, 2020. X. Delannay & Thomas B. Croat. 2020. Revision of Anthurium Schott sect. Leptanthurium (Schott) Engl. (Araceae). Aroideana Vol. 43 Nos. 1 & 2, 2020. Thomas B. Croat & Donald R. Hodel. 2020. A New species of Anthurium sect. Andiphillum (Araceae) from Cultivation. PalmArbor 2020-8: 1–16, 2 August 2020. Thomas B. Croat. 2020. The European Aroid Community New Interest in the Age of Social Media. IAS Newsletter Editor. Vol. 42, No. 4 - December, 2020. International Aroid Society, Inc. Thomas B. Croat, Efraín Freire, Robert Bleiweiss & Francisco Sornoza Molina. 2020. A New Species of Anthurium sect. Cardiolonchium (Araceae) from the Cordillera Oriental (Napo Province), Ecuador. Novon 28: 85–89. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3417/2020449. Thomas B. Croat & C. Kostelac. 2020. Volunteer Research Associates in the Aroid Research Group at the Missouri Botanical Garden. IAS Newsletter Editor. Vol. 42, No. 2 supplement - June 2020. International Aroid Society, Inc. Monica M. Carlsen & Thomas B. Croat. 2019. An analysis of the sectional classification of Anthurium (Araceae): comparing infrageneric groupings and their diagnostic morphology with a molecular phylogeny of the genus. Ann.Missouri Bot. Gard. 104: 69–82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3417/2018215. D.C. Prasca, H. Vitola & T.B. Croat. 2019. A New Variety of Anthurium clavigerum (Araceae) from Sucre Department, Colombia. Novon 27, No. 3, 151-155. O. Ortiz, M.S. de Staf & T.B. Croat. 2019. Diversity and distributional patterns of aroids (Alismatales: Araceae) along an elevational gradient in Darién, Panama. Webbia 8/28/2019. Orlando O. Ortiz, María S. de Stapf & Thomas B. Croat. 2019. Diversity and distributional patterns of aroids (Alismatales: Araceae) along an elevational gradient in Darién, Panama. Webbia, 74:2, 339-352, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00837792.2019.1646465. O. Ortiz, M.S. de Staf, T.B. Croat. 2019. Synopsis of aroids (Alismatales, Araceae) from Cerro Pirre (Darién Province, Panama). Check List 15(4), 8/16/2019, 651-689. Thomas B. Croat, Xavier Delannay, Orlando O. Ortiz & Pedro Diaz Jiménez. 2019. A Review of the Aroid Tribe Caladieae with the Description of Three New Species of Caladium and Seven New Species of Syngonium (Araceae). Novon7: 38–64. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3417/2018283. Canal, D., N. Köster, K. E. Jones, N. Korotkova, T. B. Croat, and T. Borsch. 2018. Phylogeny and diversification history of the large Neotropical genus Philodendron (Araceae): Accelerated speciation in a lineage dominated by epiphytes. American Journal of Botany 105(6): 1035–1052. W.S. Yeng, A.W. Meeroow & T.B. Croat. 2016. Resurrection and New Species of the Neotropical Genus Adelonema (Araceae: Philodendron Clade). Systematic Botany (2016), 41(1) pp. 32-48. T.B. Croat & O.O. Ortiz. 2016. A Reappraisal of the Anthurium cuspidatum Masters Complex, section Polyneurium (Araceae). Aroideana Vol. 39 No. 2. O.O.Ortiz, R. M. Baldini, G. Berguido & T.B. Croat. 2016. New species of Anthurium (Araceae) from Chucantí Nature Reserve, eastern Panama. Phytotaxa 255 (1): 047-056. Magnolia Press. T.B. Croat & L.P. Hannon. 2015. A Revision of the genus Chlorospatha (Araceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Volume 101, Number 1 2015, pp 1-259. T.B. Croat. 2015. A Review of Studies of Neotropical Araceae. Aroideana. 38E: 44-54. T.B. Croat & G. Ferry. 2015. A Preliminary Analysis of Anthurium (Araceae) from Carchi Province, Ecuador. Aroidena Vol 38E: 1 88-93. Thomas B. Croat, Vincent Pelletier, Ludovic Salomon & Jean Weigel, 2014. New species of Xanthosoma (Araceae) from Western French Guiana. Aroideana Vol 37E No. 2, 2014. Claudia L. Henriquez, Tatiana Arias, J. Chris Pires, Thomas B. Croat, Barbara A. Schaal. 2014. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. Phylogenomics of the plant family Araceae. 75 (2014) 91–102. Elsevier Inc. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2014.02.017. Nguyen V. D., Croat T. B., Luu H. T., Lee C. Y., Lee J. & de Kok R. 2013. Two new species of Alocasia (Araceae, Colocasieae) from Vietnam. Willdenowia 43: 293–299. December 2013. ISSN 0511-9618; © 2013 BGBM Berlin-Dahlem. Bogner J. & Croat T.B. 2012. A new species of Philodendron (Araceae). Willdenowia 42: 000–000. ISSN 0511-9618; BGBM Berlin-Dahlem. T.B. Croat, P. Huang, J. Lake & C. Kostelac. 2010. Araceae of the Flora of Reserva La Planada, Narino Department, Colombia (Part 2). Aroideana, Vol 33: 75-141. T.B. Croat, P. Huang, J. Lake & C. Kostelac. 2009. Araceae of the Flora of Reserva La Planada, Narino Department, Colombia (Part 1). Aroideana, Vol 32: 30-122. Thomas B. Croat, Dorothy C. Bay & Emily D. Yates. 2008. New Species of Philodendron (Araceae) from Bajo Calima, Colombia. Novon 18: 429–452. 16 December 2008. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.3417/2005014. Marcela Mora, Rodrigo Bernal, Thomas Croat,and Jorge Jácome. 2006. A phytogeographic analysis of Araceae of Cabo Corrientes (Chocó, Colombia) and comparable lowland tropical american floras. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 93: 359-366. Published on 23 August 2006. Thomas B. Croat, Dorothy C. Bay & Emily D. Yates. 2006. New Taxa of Anthurium (Araceae) from the Bajo Calima Region (Valle, Choco´), Colombia and Ecuador. Novon 16: 25–50. Published on 25 May 2006. Croat, T. & Yu, G. 2006. Four new species of Philodendron (Araceae) from South America. Willdenowia 36: 885-894. ISSN 0511-9618; BGBM Berlin-Dahlem. Thomas B. Croat , Emity D. Yates & Douglas A. Hayworth. 2005. New taxa of Anthurium and Philodendron (Araceae) from western Amazonia. Willdenowia 35: 345-358. – ISSN 0511-9618; © 2005 BGBM Berlin-Dahlem. T.B. Croat & A. Acebey. 2005. New Species of Araceae from Bolivia and Tropical Andes. Novon 15: 80C. T.B. Croat & J. Bogner. 2005. Xanthosoma feuersteiniae (Araceae), a new species from southeastern Ecuador. Willdenowia 35: 327-331. Thomas B. Croat, Anne Swart & Emily D. Yates. 2005. New species of Araceae from the Río Cenepa Region, Amazonas Department, Perú. Rodriguésia 56 (88): 65-126. Zhu, G. & T.B. Croat. 2004. Revision of Dracontium (Araceae). Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 91: 593-667. T.B. Croat. 2004. Revision of Dieffenbachia (Araceae) of Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 91: 668-772. T.B. Croat & M. Carlsen. 2003. Flora del Bajio y de Regiones Adyacentes. Fasciculo 114: 1-35. T.B. Croat. 1997. A Revision of Philodendron Subgenus Philodendron (Araceae) for Mexico and Central America. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 84: 311-704. Thomas B. Croat. 1995. Two New Species of Araceae for the Guianas. Novon, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Spring, 1995), pp. 24-29. Published by: Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Croat, T.. 1994. The use of New World Araceae as drug plants. Japanese Journal of Botany 69: 185-203. Croat, T.. 1992(1994). Taxonomic status of neotropical Araceae. Aroideana 13 (1-4): 44-3. 1990 [1992]. T.B. Croat. 1991. A Revision of Anthurium Section Pachyneurium (Araceae). Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 78: 539-855. T.B. Croat. 1988. Ecology and Life Forms of Araceae. Aroideana, Vol 11, No. 3 (4-56). Croat, T. & D. Mount. 1988. Araceae. Pp. 7-46 in Flora del Paraguay. Conservatoire et Jardin Botanique, Geneva & Missouri Bot. Gard. Croat, T. & N. Lambert. 1987. The Araceae of Venezuela. Aroideana 9: 3-214. Croat, T. 1986. The distribution of Anthurium (Araceae) in Mexico, Middle America and Panama. Selbyana 9: 94-99. Croat, T. 1986. A revision of the genus Anthurium (Araceae) of Mexico and Central America. Part 2: Panama. Monogr. in Syst. Bot., Missouri Bot. Gard. 14: 1-204. T.B. Croat & N. Lambert. 1986. The Araceae of Venezuela. Aroideana Vol 9, (1-4). 1986. T.B. Croat. 1983. A revision of the Genus Anthurium (Araceae) of Mexico and Central America. Part I: Mexico and Middle America. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 70, No. 2 (1983). pp. 211-416. R.D. Scheffer & T.B. Croat. 1983. Chromosome numbers in the Genus Anthurium (Araceae) II. Amer. J. Bot. 70(6): 858-871. Croat, T. 1981. A revision of Syngonium (Araceae) . Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 68: 565-651. Thomas B. Croat. 1972. Taxonomic Study of Anthurium in Central America. National Geographic Society, pp 251-255.
Click here to see a complete listing of Tom's publications.

Also see:
International Aroid Society

T. Croat. 2019. A Primer on the genus Philodendron. Stuckenbrock lecture, September 6, 2019. T. Croat. 2019. The Philodendron Family, an interesting and diverse family. Stuckenbrock lecture, September 6, 2019 T.B. Croat. 2019. Les Araceae débarquent d’Amérique à la Médicée. La Médicée, 17 Mars, 2019. T.B. Croat. 2018. Aroid Species Diversity: Are We Underestimating the number of Aroids. Latin Botanical Conference XII Congress- Quito, 1st Latin American Aroid Congress, Oct 21-28, 2018. T.B. Croat. 2018. Challenges of Plant Explorations and the Process of Discovery. Latin Botanical Conference XII Congress- Quito, 1st Latin American Aroid Congress, Oct 21-28, 2018. Croat,T.B. 2018. The Biological Bridge of the Americas A history of the Discovery of Its Plants. University of Panama 50 year PMA Lecture, 31 August 2018. T.B. Croat. 2018. Research with Araceae – Missouri Botanical Garden. XII International Aroid Conference Cali, Colombia. July 7 2018. Croat, T.B. 2018. The Philodendron Family (Araceae). 31st Annual John J. Dwyer Lecture in Biology, 27 April 2018, Missouri Bot. Gard., St. Louis, MO. T.B. Croat. 2018. The International Aroid Society: A Review of its founding and its Role in Research with Araceae on the Occasion of its 40th Anniversary. International Aroid Society- Miami, 03 February 2018. T.B. Croat. 2017. Tropical rain forests-their complexities and their tragic demise. Lecture for The Holden Arboretum Scientist Lecture Series at the Cleveland Botanical Garden. Oct. 19, 2017. T.B. Croat. 2017. The Phenomenal Growth of Anthurium. International Aroid Society - Miami, September 2017. T.B. Croat, G. Ferry. 2017. Aroids of Yasuni. XII International Aroid Conference Cali, Colombia 06-10 July 2017. T.B. Croat. 2017. A Review of Studies with Araceae; Araceae of Central America. XIIth International Aroid Conference, Cali, Colombia, 06-10, July, 2017. T.B. Croat. 2017. Using Lucid Keys to discover New Species of Araceae. XII International Aroid Conference, Cali, Colombia 06-10, July 2017. T.B. Croat. 2017. Revision of Monstera of Central America. XIIth International Aroid Conference, Cali, Colombia, 06-10, July, 2017. T.B. Croat. 2017. Revision of Stenospermation Central America. XIIth International Aroid Conference, Cali, Colombia, 06-10, July, 2017. T.B. Croat. 2016. Unusual, Beautiful and Weird Aroids to Grow in South Florida. Kampong, Friends of Kampong. September 12, 2016. T.B. Croat. 2016. An Introduction to Aroid Genera. November 11, 2016 – ICESI, Cali, Colombia. July 7th 2018 – XII International Aroid Conference in Cali, Colombia. Croat, T.B. 2014. Aroids of Colombia. Annual IAS Conference in Miami September 20th, 2014, Herbario Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín-Colombia. T. Croat. 2013. A Review of Araceae of Neotropics. XI International Aroid Conference, Hanoi, Vietnam, 11-13 Dec. 2013. T. Croat & G. Ferry. 2013. Anthurium of Carchi Province, Ecuador. XI International Aroid Conference, Hanoi, Vietnam 11-13 Dec. 2013. T. Croat. 2013. Aroid distribution in Colombia – the consequence of Climatic Change and Deforestation. 1st Colombia Aroid Conference, 10 August 2013. Croat, T.B. 2013. A Review of Black-spathed species of Anthurium. Presentation at 1st Colombian Aroid Conference -Ibague. Croat, T.B. 2012. Research Program - SLF Version 3-29-2012. 30 March 2012. Missouri Bot. Gard., St. Louis, MO. T.B. Croat. 2011. Araceae of the Guianas. Botany 2011. Healing the Planet, July 9-13, 2011. St. Louis, MO. T.B. Croat. 2009. Araceae of the Guianas. Presented at X International Aroid Conference, University of Nancy, France, 9–11 July, 2009; presented at 62nd Brazilian Botanical Conference in Forteleza; Presented at Botany 2011-St. Louis, August, 2011. T.B. Croat. 2009. Araceae of Central America. Presented at X International Aroid Conference, University of Nancy, France, 9–11 July, 2009 T.B. Croat. 2004. Research with Araceae. Presented November 2004, Unknown Location. T. Croat. 2014. A Review of Rhodospatha (Araceae). IX International Aroid Conference, Kuching, Sarawak, November 2004 T.B. CroatAroid Flora of Kampong. Unpublished Research for the Director of Kampong.
OPUS Herbarium Reports Thomas Croat. 2016. OPUS III Herbarium Tour of Central America. 19 September-1 November, 2016. Thomas Croat. 2016. OPUS II Herbarium Tour of Europe. April, 2016. Thomas Croat. 2015. OPUS I Herbarium Tour of South America. 18 October-7 December, 2015.