jasmine2005

hi everyone can anybody help this woman whos going bananas in the uk,colocasia or alocasia,which is the largest?hope someone comes to my rescue,

Tog Tan

So far, scientifically known is the Alocasia robusta from Borneo reputed to grow to a leaf size of 5m or give or take 17ft. However, it does not grow to this size outside its natural environment as it needs very high humidity.

Malesiana Tropicals of Sarawak still offer this plant and they ship international. I had a couple before but killed them with too much water. It is not distinctively impressive in shape except that when matured, it's really huge. I have seen one with leaf of about 10ft+ with a thick above ground tuber. Kinda nice.

If you want a weird biggish one, try the Alocasia brancifolia. Easier to grow and get tall with leaves that look like papaya. At a glance when I first encountered a matured specimen in Sarawak, I really thought it was a papaya! Leaves to about 7ft. Good conversation piece as it is totally different looking.

__________________



____
Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

lorax

Equally, Colocasia gigantaea gets quite a bit taller than most of the Alocasias, and is fairly easy to grow. However, if you want the truly huge-leafed aroids, you need to consider the Ecuadorean Anthurium giganteum and the other members of section Belolonchium. These grow tall (up to 10' standing alone on some species) and throw leaf blades that start at about 6' and go to about 20' in older specimens. A. angamarcanum in particular gets quite huge. There are also some strap-leaf Philodendrons, including a few species yet to be described, that go to about 18'.