Scientific details

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Alocasia macrorrhiza

 COMMON NAME(S): Giant elephant ear, taro
SYNONYM(S):
FAMILY: ARACEAE - Arum family
ORIGIN: Asia
HABITAT: Cultivated landscapes, crop fields and some escapes
RANGE: Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Louisiana
TYPE: Evergreen non-woody perennial
HEIGHT: 10-15'
CHARACTERISTICS: Thick below ground rhizome; short, squat trunk sometimes formed.
LEAVES: 1.5-4' long, green or variegated white, pointed upwards, rounded at tip, hearted-shaped at base, wavy-margined
FLOWERS: Tiny, congested on a thick spike surrounded by a yellowish spathe bract
FLOWERING SEASON: Summer and fall
FRUITS: Berries

ALLERGENIC COMPONENTS: All parts, especially corm (rootstock)
ALLERGENIC PRINCIPLES: Calcium oxalate
ALLERGENIC PROPERTIES: Dermatological
COMMENTS: The juice of this plant can cause dermatitis due to high levels of calcium oxalate crystals in all of the plant's parts. The corm (rootstock) is specially prepared and eaten in tropical countries.
Information contained in the pages of Allergenica.com was compiled from a variety of references, however plants growing under different environmental conditions often vary considerably in some characteristics and behavior, and there is no guarantee that a given plant will always conform to the description provided nor will always affect the body's sensitivity to allergens in ways described here. Allergenica.com and Betrock Information Systems assume neither responsibility nor liability for the information presented in these pages.
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