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Alocasia
In Singapore: African Mask, Amazon Elephant's Ear, 黑叶观音莲 (Grown in Singapore)
Alocasia is a genus of about 90 tropical Asian and eastern Australian perennials grown for their large arrow-shaped leaves, and the hybrids sold as houseplants are the most common. They need warmth, humidity and bright shade to thrive.
Alocasia is a genus of rhizomatous or tuberous, broad-leaved, perennial, flowering plants from the family Araceae. There are about 90 accepted species native to tropical and subtropical Asia and eastern Australia. Around the world, many growers widely cultivate a range of hybrids and cultivars as ornamentals.
Alocasia are tropical plants that are increasingly becoming popular as houseplants. The hybrid A. × amazonica has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. They are typically grown as pot plants, but a better way is to grow the plants permanently in the controlled conditions of a greenhouse. They can tolerate dim light and cannot withstand direct sunlight. They should be cared for as any other tropical plant, with weekly leaf cleaning, frequent fertilization, and medium to high humidity.
They rarely survive cold winters or the dryness of artificial heating, but an attempt to slowly acclimatize plants from the summer garden to the house can help. Once inside, the watering period must be reduced, and the plants should be protected from spider mites or red spider mites.
Alocasia azlanii · Alocasia baginda · Alocasia brancifolia · Cunjevoi · Chinese taro · Alocasia fornicata · Alocasia heterophylla · Alocasia infernalis · Alocasia lauterbachiana · Alocasia longiloba · Giant taro · Alocasia melo
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Alocasia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
