Tog Tan

I went shopping again today and bought an Alocasia X Velvet Hybrid. This was once available 3 years ago and the Thai vendors came down to M'sia and bought all which was available then. I have not seen this plant in the market till today and only 1 vendor has it.

No photography can do this plant any justice. You just have to see it in 'person' to fully appreciate the lush velvety surface of the leaf. A real stunner!

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

Patty in Wisc

OK Tog, I'm on my way!!! AND, I'm staying till it warms up here. I'm freezing & it will snow again this weekend
Those are beautiful plants!!
Can someone tell me what the diff is between colocasia & alocasia? I ordered both from agristarts thru Richard.

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Patty in Wisc has sadly passed away 9/05/11. We will miss you Patty.

saltydad

About elephant Ears

This might help

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Michael_Andrew

Alocasia vs. Colocasia: Alocasia differs technically from Colocasia in ovary characteristics, but in most cases has a shiny leaf and initially points upward, while Colocasia most often has a matte finish leaf and points downward. Another difference is that Alocasia leaves can be divided or undivided whereas Colocasia leaves are always undivided. Also, supposedly Colocasia have leaves that have the stems attached towards the middle of the leaf and "nod" in the breezes, while Alocasias have stems that are attached to the top of the leaf.



ARACEAE

Tog Tan

1st thing; Diff between an Alocasia and a Colocasia?
Physically, if you get a chance to touch/feel them, the Alocasia's leaves are much tougher. No matter how big the Colocasia leaves get, they can't match up to the Alocasia. The rest is as said below.
Funny thing though, it is never referred to as Elephant Ears/EE here. They are called keladi (Malay) or yam.


2nd thing; I didn't go shopping today but on the way back from the nursery, I stopped by to pick up a Colocasia for a friend who wanted one. I came across a bunch of medium sized ones near a creek. Well, I had no entrenching tool with me, so I had to make do with my hands and legs. The hands pulled gently while my right leg pressed the tuber till it got free from the soil. It fitted in nicely into the back of our small pick up without much damage. No one ever gives these big plants a second glance here.

When I got to my friend's place, I called him out and I wanted him to carry the plant in by himself so that he can feel the weight and would know what trouble I went through to get the plant. He was so happy he forgot to thank me. He grinned all the way in...

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

lorax

That's just a little one, Tog! But I know what you're saying about the weight. I had cause to dig up a 10' Xanthosoma once, and golly was it ever heavy. Had a big tasty tuber on the end of it though, so I guess it was worth it.

Diff between Colocasia and Alocasia - there are a couple, but the most defining difference between the two is like Tog said - leaf texture. Alocasia are much much tougher, more like plastic, and Colocasia, while they are leathery, still feel like an organic substance. The second is the way that the leaf joins to the petiole (stem) - in Alocasia it's more towards the center of the leaf (especially if the leaf is entire, rather than trilobate), and in Colocasia it's always at the superior sinus (the point where the main ribs of the three lobes connect). Additionally, Colocasia have a slight geniculum (a bump where the petiole attaches to the leaf) which allows the leaves to swivel more easily. Tuber size and shape also differs slightly. Further, there's a difference in petiole length as a ratio to leaf length, the persistence (or lack thereof) of the cataphylls, and the bloom shape and style (ovary shape and seed shape are prime examples). Also, in my experience at least, mature Alocasia are smaller than mature Colocasia for most species.

If you want to get really confused, though, try telling the difference visually between large Colocasia and Xanthosoma. Apart from two leaf characteristics, they're all but identical. I have learned through trial and error, and I'm lucky that 30 species of Xanthosoma are native and we only have Colocasia esculenta.

This is X. saggitifolium, and it's a small tree with 6' leaf blades.

Patty in Wisc

Thanks gang, I will refer back to this.
Now I wonder how big mine will get by end of summer if they are only 2" tc's. I'll have to get some caladiums to plant w/ them...it'll be sooooo tropical!

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Patty in Wisc has sadly passed away 9/05/11. We will miss you Patty.

Mark Hall

Tog, the plant in the last picture with you looks like a Xanthosoma Atroverins.

It truly is a monster. Wish they would grow that big here.

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Mark Hall

Double post ...sorry

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lorax

Mark, how would a Xanthosoma atroverins get to the wilds in Tog's neck of the woods? They belong to my jungles, not his... I've been talking with him about it, and he says that X. saggitifolia has only just started to come on market there, so I'd be dubious about one of the more obscure of my native species just "popping up" in M'sia.

I was thinking that it was Colocasia gigantaea, myself.

Mark Hall

Sorry...my mistake. I will shut up now.

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Tog Tan

Yep, the only Xanths found here are the small ornamental ones. So far there are none of the big ones introduced here.

The plant is one of the many varieties of the Colocasia odora found here. In my haste of posting, I did not mention the name.

I wouldn't call this big at all as Lorax said. It is a medium one and they can go much bigger depending where they are found.

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

Chironex

I think my superior sinus is trilobate and it's making my geniculum hurt.

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Scot

Bananaman88

Sounds like you should head to the emergency room, Scot!

Lagniappe

Randy has some monster Atroverins, mine challenge me more than any other EE's. I just can't get them to take off.

lorax

There are meds for that, you know. It's not a serious condition.

tophersmith

What no cigar in this Pic?

Tog Tan

Went out again today and got some plants and here are a couple of pix to share;

Alocasia lowii Variety - This is one of the many varieties of this species. Leaf can get quite big and thick and has a beautiful slivery grey upper surface. The newly acquired plant is not well hydrated in this pix.


Alocasia Hybrids
The plant on the left is a medium sized type plant when full grown. This one has a sharper leaf apex. The one on the right is a compact mini with rounded leaf apex. Both are a very shiny dark green with striking white venation.


Caladium Scarlet Thai Hybrid - This looks like the catch of the day. This is the most striking colored Thai hybrid I have seen to date. The Thai Caladium hybrids are smaller in size than the American ones but they are very flashy in their coloration.


Other than these I got also got an Alocasia brancifolia, a Licuala orbicularis at a bargain price and like another 10 other nice plants. Great day!

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

tophersmith

Hey Tog,

Have you ever seen a Licuala orbicularis this big?

Licuala orbicularis

Tog Tan

I saw them in Sarawak bigger than that. If you can pay the price, buy a big one. They take forever to grow.

The other plant which is even more interesting is the Licuala cordata, also from Sarawak. It can take full sun gradually and the leaves grow flat like a table. And the one which tops many palm connoisseurs' wish list is the Licaula mapu.
I have all three of these in my collection. My nursery have more than 100 species of palms, mostly the rare ones.

Licuala cordata


Licuala mapu

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