Alocasia macrorrhizos

Common Name: giant taro

Family: Araceae

Common Synonyms: none

USDA Hardiness Zone: 8b-11

Growth Habit: Herb

Origin: Tropical Asia

FISC Category: -

FDACS Listed Noxious Weed: No

Introduction Date: Earliest Florida specimen available vouchered in 2000

IFAS Assessment:

• North: OK
• Central: OK
• South: OK

Description

Large herb to 5 m tall with large erect stems up to 1 m long. Leaves large, ovate-triangular. Stalked inflorescences. Spathe white to yellowish, 13-35 cm long, 4-6 cm wide, the upper part withering. Spadix nearly as long as spathe, 11-32 cm long. Berries red, ovoid, 8-10 mm in diameter.

Habitat

Wet disturbed thickets

Comments

Cultivated widely in the tropics for its starchy stem tubers, used as a famine food in areas. Considered invasive in Cuba, Hawaii, Fiji, and other Pacific Islands.

Control Methods

• Manual: Mechanical: Mechanical removal is effective but very labor intensive. All corms and tubers need to be removed (CABI).
• Chemical: NA
• Biological: NA

Control Notes

NA

References

CABI. 2014. Invasive Species Compendium: Datasheet, Alocasia macrorrhizos. http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/4220. Accessed on June 25, 2014.

Dave's Garden. 2014. PlantFiles: Upright Elephant Ear, Alocasia macrorrhizos. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53227/. Accessed on June 17, 2014.

PIER. 2014. Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER): Alocasia macrorrhizos. http://www.hear.org/pier/species/alocasia_macrorrhizos.htm. Accessed on June 25, 2014.

Wunderlin, R. P., and B. F. Hansen. 2008. Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (http://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/).[S. M. Landry and K. N. Campbell (application development), Florida Center for Community Design and Research.] Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.