Help in identifying a taro cultivar

From: "Eric Walton" <ewalton at hort.cri.nz> on 1997.08.12 at 14:32:38(1044) Dear All I am wondering if someone could help me with an identification of 'a taro'. Last week I was on holiday in Cairns, in north-eastern Queenland, Australia. While visiting the local botanical gardens I saw a most beautiful taro. The leaves were completely reddish purple in colour with a mat finish. The leaves came out green, veins purple, and turned green with age. The largest plants were about 2 feet tall. I suspect the plant multiplies by offsets but perhaps also runners. I was told by the Curator of the gardens that it was a cultivar of Colocasia esculentum. Can anybody offer me more information than that? Or better still a piece of the plant! I took a few photos but they have not been developed as yet. Should anybody be visiting Cairns, I recommend a visit. It is in tropical Australia and (to my eye anyway!), it has wonderful collections of aroids, palms and gingers in a well landscaped setting. Thanks in advance Eric Walton +More New Zealand ewalton@hort.cri.nz

From: "Alan Galloway" <alan at unity.ncsu.edu> on 1997.08.12 at 14:57:05(1045) On Aug 12, 9:36am, Eric Walton wrote: > Subject: Help in identifying a taro cultivar > Dear All > > I am wondering if someone could help me with an identification of 'a > taro'. > > Last week I was on holiday in Cairns, in north-eastern Queenland, > Australia. While visiting the local botanical gardens I saw a most > beautiful taro. The leaves were completely reddish purple in colour > with a mat finish. The leaves came out green, veins purple, and > turned green with age. Sounds exactly like Colocasia 'Black Magic, aka, C. 'Jet Black wonder' My experience has been that if it is treated as an aquaitc it will only get to 2 feet tall, but if put out in the garden in full sun, it will easily reach 6 to 8 feet tall in a growing season. This plant has proven quite cold hardy here in USDA Zone 7. This plant was originally discovered in the Phillipines as an aquatic Plant Delights Nurs. here in Raleigh, NC carries this plant, see there web page at: http://www.plantdel.com This plant is probably the most asked about plant in my garden. Alan +More -- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Alan Galloway alan_galloway@ncsu.edu Computing Services, Information Technology Campus Box 7109 North Carolina State University (phone) 919-515-5483 Raleigh, NC 27695-7109 (fax) 919-515-3787

From: Steve Marak <samarak at arachne.uark.edu> on 1997.08.12 at 15:30:51(1046) On Tue, 12 Aug 1997, Alan Galloway wrote: > On Aug 12, 9:36am, Eric Walton wrote: > > > > While visiting the local botanical gardens I saw a most > > beautiful taro. The leaves were completely reddish purple in colour > > with a mat finish. The leaves came out green, veins purple, and > > turned green with age. > > Sounds exactly like Colocasia 'Black Magic, aka, C. 'Jet Black wonder' > This plant was originally discovered in the Phillipines as an aquatic Eric, Alan, et. al., As you may recall, I too have such a plant, acquired a few months back from a local nursery specializing in aquatics for ponds. The name was corrupted (they called it "Voodoo") but the description is identical. Alan, you seem to know something about the origin. I assume it is indeed a C. esculentum variety? Am I correct in inferring from your statement that it was a chance mutation and discovery rather than a result of (human) selection and breeding? Are the inflorescences (mine hasn't flowered) typical of C. esculentum, or unusual in any way? We find it remarkable for 2 reasons. One is the degree of color change in the leaves - when they first unfurl, they are no darker than several other varieties we've seen, but wind up black. Second, this change occurs very quickly - just a day or so. It's definitely a winner, very striking. Steve +More -- Steve Marak -- samarak@arachne.uark.edu

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