Alocasia - African Mask, Cunjevoi, Elephant's Ear, Spoon Lily

(Alocas'ia)

DESCRIPTION: These are tropical plants from Borneo, Ceylon and other warm parts of Asia. They are grown for their ornamental foliage. Their leaves are very large and beautifully colored. The colors are described in more detail below in the varieties section.

POTTING: They must be grown in a greenhouse having a minimum temperature of 60 degrees, or they may be grown outdoors in mild climates such as southern Florida. In the North, they may be planted outside during the hot summer months. The thick roots are planted in March in a compost of equal parts of peat, sphagnum moss and loam with sand and crushed charcoal added. The top of the rhizome shouldn't be below the rim of the pot or the bottom leaves could decay at the base. Warm, humid, shady conditions are required throughout the summer and the plants need an abundance of water when growing. When the leaves fade in the fall, less water is required, and when they finally have died, the soil is only moistened once in a while.

PROPAGATION: In March, pieces of the rhizome can be inserted in small pots containing peat and sand, which are then placed in a propagating case in the hothouse. When they've formed roots, they can be potted separately in small pots and as they grow, into larger ones. The roots should remain in the pots of soil until March, when they're taken out and repotted.

VARIETIES: A. indica varieties metallica (purple leaves w/ a metallic sheen) & variegata (deep green & gray underneath); A. Lowii (olive green, deep purple underneath) & variety Veitchii (has white veins); A. macrorhiza (green w/ wavy edges) & its variety variegata (has white blotches on its leaves); A. cuprea (dark metallic purple-green leaves, & red beneath); A. longiloba (arrow shaped leaves, white veins & perimeters); A. Sanderiana (arrow-shaped leaves, lobed margins & white veins & margins); A. Watsoniana (puckered blue-green leaves w/ white veins); A. zebrina (has zigzag bands on the leafstalks).

Back to our botanical home page.