linguistic:translation, structural:summarization, stylistic:tone
Classification

One of the earliest observations of species in the Araceae was conducted by Theophrastus in his work Enquiry into Plants. The Araceae were not recognized as a distinct group of plants until the 16th century. In 1789, Antoine Laurent de Jussieu classified all climbing aroids as Pothos and all terrestrial aroids as either Arum or Dracontium in his book Familles des Plantes.

The first major system of classification for the family was produced by Heinrich Wilhelm Schott, who published Genera Aroidearum in 1858 and Prodromus Systematis Aroidearum in 1860. Schott's system was based on floral characteristics, and used a narrow conception of a genus. Adolf Engler produced a classification in 1876, which was steadily refined up to 1920. His system is significantly different from Schott's, being based more on vegetative characters and anatomy. The two systems were to some extent rivals, with Engler's having more adherents before the advent of molecular phylogenetics brought new approaches.

A comprehensive taxonomy of Araceae was published by Mayo et al. in 1997.

Modern studies based on gene sequences show the Araceae (including the Lemnoideae, duckweeds) to be monophyletic, and the first diverging group within the Alismatales. The APG III system of 2009 recognizes the family, including the genera formerly segregated in the Lemnaceae. The sinking of the Lemnaceae into the Araceae was not immediately universally accepted. For example, the 2010 New Flora of the British Isles used a paraphyletic Araceae and a separate Lemnaceae. However Lemna and its allies were incorporated in Araceae in the 2019 edition. A comprehensive genomic study of Spirodela polyrhiza was published in February 2014.