I know it as Devils Ivy. read more about it on http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/7888.shtml

Yep, now called Epipremnum aureum, used to be Scindapsus, common names Pothos, Devil's Ivy.

Thankyou both very much , I think, and my son thinks he has inherited a very appropriate house plant, DEVILS IVY. I will sound like a gardener and call it POTHOS.

Erm, if it makes any difference to you, Pothos is the American name for this plant... though, as usual, anything American eventually seems to proliferate here!

Pothos may be another common name for Epipremnun aureum but if you ordered it from a nursery you would be given a very different plant. When I first got serious about gardening a friend advised me to learn the Latin (botanical)names of the plants to ensure I got what I wanted. The experts do sometimes change the names when they feel the research points to the plant being related to one or another family of plants. As Bamboo says the
Latin name used to be Scindapsus.

I'm not sure what experience you have of gardening Ian but if you order Pothos from a nursery you would be in for a shock when it arrives. It is a totally different plant from a different family. When I got serious about gardening I was advised to learn the Latin (botanical) name of the plant to ensure I did not get a different or inferior plant to the one I wanted. Epipremnum aureum is easy to pronounce so if I were you I would just use that. As Bamboo says its Latin (botanical) name used to be scindapsus but the experts decided it was better placed and named as it is now. I hope he enjoys it and keeps it looking as healthy as it is now.

This site is running at snails pace this evening and I thought the first comment had not been added so I re-wrote an answer.

Scotsgran, what plant did they send then?

Bamboo I looked up Pothos see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pothos
from my reading of it Pothos repens looks like a very different plant. I stand corrected on saying it is from a different family. All I was trying to emphasise is that learning the scientific names of plants is not that difficult but it can help you avoid being given a plant you do not want. Ian has not given any information about himself but if he wants to be a serious (and happy) gardener then knowing the scientific names is a good start. I know lots of very happy, successful gardeners who are not in the least interested in knowing scientific names but they are not a lot of help if I would want to choose a plant exactly the same as one in their garden. It is personal choice.

There's Pothos argyraeus too, though I think that's now been renamed under Philodendron, but your point is well made Scotsgran - order Pothos and the nursery has no reason to think you're using one of the common names for another plant entirely. I often wonder what you'd end up with if you ordered, verbally, a calla lily, there's another one with a common name the same as a botanical name for a different plant.

Gardening is full of highs and lows but by following my friends advice I have successfully negotiated some of the pitfalls. There are lots of syn. names which overlap. I did not set out with the intention of buying bulbs but a packet of Puschkinia scilliodes var libanotica fell in to my trolley last week. I thought they would be the same or very similar to Scilla siberica. A bit of research put me right. Whether I will remember the information is a different matter but I have made labels for each on my new P-touch hand held printer bought at a discount as an end of line item. I love it and I hope they stand up to the weather better than previous attempts.

Oh, Puschkinia are really pretty, I much prefer them to bluebells...

Me too.