The Arales may share common evolutionary ancestors with the palm order (Arecales) and the Panama hat palm ....

Arales is rich in popular ornamentals and foliage plants, all in the arum, or aroid, family (Araceae). The duckweed family (Lemnaceae) is remarkable for containing the smallest known flowering plants. The largest genera in the family Araceae are (600 species); Philodendron (275 species); Arisaema (150 species), which is believed to be pollinated by snails; Homalomena (140 species); Rhaphidophora (100 species); Amorphophallus (100 species), some species of which produce inflorescences up to 1 m (about 40 inches) tall; Pothos (75 species); and Alocasia (70 species). The elephant's ear ( Colocasia esculenta ) is a variable species that includes the dasheen, , and eddo of the tropics; these plants are grown for their large edible corms, or bulblike underground stems. Species of ( Dieffenbachia ) are popular indoor foliage plants that can cause inflammation and swelling of the throat if a piece of stem is chewed. Several species of Spathiphyllum are grown as indoor potted plants.! Another beautiful foliage plant is , available in many horticultural varieties with large, colourful leaves. The family is remarkable for the smallest known flowering plants, the duckweeds ( Lemna species) and watermeals ( Wolffia species). Certain of these green, leaflike, flattened species, with or without rootlets and only a few millimetres across, are used in aquariums and pools as ornamentals or as food for waterfowl and fish.