Alocasia

Scientific name

Alocasia (Schott) G. Don

Common names

taro, elephant’s ear

Family

Araceae

Similar genera

Colocasia, Schismatoglottis, Zantedeschia

Native distribution

subtropical eastern Himalayas throughout subtropical and tropical Asia into the tropical western pacific and eastern Australia

Species cultivated

numerous species, hybrids, and varieties cultivated and offered as household plants and misleadingly as aquatic plants for ponds

Adventive distribution

Africa, Asia, Australasia, Pacific, North and South America

Weed status

may be considered a weed in some countries

Habit

amphibious amphibious:
(adj) of a plant able to live on land or in water
herb

Brief description

Small to medium-sized rhizomatousrhizomatous:
(adj) possessing rhizomes
herb, evergreen or seasonally dormant. Stem erect, decumbentdecumbent:
(adj) (of stems) having a portion lying along the ground, with upper parts erect or ascending
or creeping, with clear to milky latexlatex:
(n) a usually milky-looking liquid found in the cells of many plants
. Leaves in basalbasal:
(adj) at or pertaining to the base, or point of attachment
rosette; sometimes each subtended by a cataphyllcataphyll:
(n) a reduced, small leaf resembling a scale
; petiolepetiole:
(n) the stalk of a leaf
long, glabrousglabrous:
(adj) without hairs or scales
to pubescentpubescent:
(adj) (1) covered with short, soft hairs; (2) bearing hairs
, often glandular, sheath relatively long; leaf bladeblade:
(n) (syn. lamina) the flat, expanded part of a leaf, frond, or petal (excluding, e.g., the petiole)
peltate when young, becoming hastatehastate:
(adj) (of a leaf) with a narrow, pointed lamina with two basal lobes spreading more or less at right angles to the petiole
to sagittatesagittate:
(adj) shaped like an arrowhead
; marginmargin:
(n) edge; rim
entireentire:
(adj) having a continuous margin that is not toothed or lobed
, sinuate or pinnatifidpinnatifid:
(adj) (of leaves) deeply pinnately lobed half way or more, but not reaching the midrib
; primary veins pinnatepinnate:
(adj) in the form of a feather; of, e.g., leaflets, lobes, or veins: arranged in two rows along an axis
, with waxy glands in axils on lower leaf surface, often with submarginal collective vein. Inflorescenceinflorescence:
(n) the arrangement of flowers on the floral axis
an axillaryaxillary:
(adj) in, of, or produced from an axil
spathe and spadixspadix:
(n) a spike of small flowers borne on a thick, fleshy axis
; pedunclepeduncle:
(n) the stalk of a flower cluster or inflorescence
erect, usually shorter than petiolepetiole:
(n) the stalk of a leaf
. Spathespathe:
(n) a large bract or bracts subtending and often enclosing an inflorescence
limblimb:
(n) the expanded portion of a petal or bract (e.g., a spathe)
lanceolatelanceolate:
(adj) lance-shaped; widest point below the middle, tapering to the apex
to oblongoblong:
(adj) two to four times longer than wide, with +/- parallel sides
, hooded, purple to green, yellow or white, sometimes spotted or streaked.

Natural habitat

wide ecological range; open wet disturbed sites, moist to ever-wet areas of primary and secondary tropical rain forests, wetlands, open swamps, banks of rivers and streams, rarely rheophytic

Additional comments

Alocasia contains 80 species, none of which are truly aquatic. The majority of species are found in rain forests, in humid to wet forest conditions, and/or are amphibiousamphibious:
(adj) of a plant able to live on land or in water
.