| Monocotyledon | Literature for Alocasia macrorrhizos
Wagner et al., 1990, 1999; Lorence & Wagner, 2019. |
| Araceae -- The Aroid, Duckweed, Philodendron Family | Bibliography |
| Alocasia macrorrhizos | |
Common name(s): elephant's-ear plant, `ape |
| General Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Distribution | Exact place of origin unknown, occurring from India and Sri Lanka through SE Asia to Polynesia, cultivated widely in the tropics.In the Hawaiian Islands, a Polynesian introduction on Kaua`i, O`ahu, Moloka`i, Maui, Hawai`i. |
|
| Habit |
Large herb to 5 m tall; stems erect, to 1 m long and 20 cm in diameter. |
|
| Leaves |
Leaf blade ovate-triangular, anterior lobe 25‒120 cm long, 20‒90 cm wide, posterior lobes 12‒40 cm long, ¼‒½ as long as anterior lobe, primary lateral veins 4‒7 per side; petiole 75‒130 cm long, green or with brownish mottling, cataphylls persistent, 25‒95 cm long. |
|
| Flowers |
Inflorescences 2‒4 together in leaf axils, subtended by bracts, peduncle 20‒45 cm long; spathe whitish-green to yellowish, oblong, 13‒35 cm long, 4‒6 cm wide, constricted ca. 4 cm from base to form a tube to 2 cm in diameter, distal part deciduous or withering; spadix nearly as long as spathe, 11‒32 cm long, pistillate portion 1‒2.5 cm long, stigma 1.2‒1.3 mm in diameter; sterile staminate portion 0.5‒2 cm long, fertile staminate portion 2‒7 cm long, terminal appendage 7.5‒21 cm long. |
|
| Fruit |
Fruit pale orange to scarlet, ovoid or subglobose, 4‒10 mm long, 4‒8 mm in diameter. |
|
| Seeds |
Seeds pale brown, ovoid, c. 2 mm long. |
|
| Chromosomes |
2n = 26, 28, 42. |
|
| Notes |
Cultivated widely in the tropics and
used as a famine food in some areas. |
|
| Contributor |
David Lorence |
