Alocasia 'Borneo Giant' vs Alocasia robusta

From: "Peter Boyce" <peterboyce at myjaring.net> on 2004.03.28 at 03:51:09(11338) Dear Folks The issue of Alocasia 'Borneo Giant' and Alocasia robusta has been raised again. The original introduction of Alocasia 'Borneo Giant' seems to have been genuine A. robusta. However, nearly everything labelled as Borneo Giant I have seen for sale in the US is in fact simply a very robust form of Alocasia macrorrhizos. Alocasia macrorrhizos differs from A. robusta on several key features. The most easily observable is that the backs of the leaves of A. macrorrhizos are glossy green while the backs of the leaves of A. robusta are chalky white. Cut surfaces of A. robusta very quickly turn orange; A. macrorrhizos not so. Alocasia robusta is also very easily distinguished from A. macrorrhizos by the way that the inflorescences appear. In A. robusta a large cluster of spathes, up to 40, is grouped in the centre of the plant; A. macrorrhizos produces inflorescences in twos or rarely threes at the base of each leaf. The lower spathe (the tubular part) is white with conspicuous red markings in A. robusta, it is pale green and un-marked in A. macrorrhizos. Hope this helps some Pete

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