"Elephant Ear"??? Man, I hate that term!

From: Steve at ExoticRainforest.com (ExoticRainforest) on 2008.03.09 at 13:43:53(17135) I'm sure just about all of you have seen plants in your local nursery, Home Depot, WalMart or Lowe's being sold this time of year with the name "Elephant Ear". I hate that term and no one at any of our local stores has ever been able to tell me what the species, or base species if it is a hybrid, might be. I've always assumed some sort of Xanthosoma but can't find anything. One note I recently received said it was a very large Caladium, but if it is, I can't find out anything about it. Does anyone on this forum know for certain? Although I've never seen one produce a spathe I'm told it produces a large white inflorescence. This is one plant I'd love to do a page for my website on!! Thanks! Steve Lucas +More www.ExoticRainforest.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid-l/attachments/20080309/962e1d28/attachment.htm

From: exotics at hawaii.rr.com (Windy Aubrey) on 2008.03.09 at 19:36:32(17141) Maybe I can help a bit. I have 'Elephant Ears' :>) naturalized on our property. It's very common here in Hawaii and is the species Xanthosoma sagittifolium. It does get a beautiful huge spathe that is slightly pinkish and has a very distinctive odor. I saw one in bloom the other day and if it is still photogenic I will get you a shot. Windy +More ----- Original Message ----- From: ExoticRainforest To: Discussion of aroids Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2008 3:43 AM Subject: [Aroid-l] "Elephant Ear"??? Man, I hate that term! I'm sure just about all of you have seen plants in your local nursery, Home Depot, WalMart or Lowe's being sold this time of year with the name "Elephant Ear". I hate that term and no one at any of our local stores has ever been able to tell me what the species, or base species if it is a hybrid, might be. I've always assumed some sort of Xanthosoma but can't find anything. One note I recently received said it was a very large Caladium, but if it is, I can't find out anything about it. Does anyone on this forum know for certain? Although I've never seen one produce a spathe I'm told it produces a large white inflorescence. This is one plant I'd love to do a page for my website on!! Thanks! Steve Lucas www.ExoticRainforest.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L at www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid-l/attachments/20080309/13da02fa/attachment.htm

From: RAYMOMATTLA at cs.com (RAYMOMATTLA at cs.com) on 2008.03.09 at 23:53:20(17148) Ditto to what Brian said but alot of the big box stores also have "Upright Elephant Ears" as well....lol. From the images on the boxes they come in they are most likely Alocasia odora. Michael Mattlage +More -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid-l/attachments/20080309/833364de/attachment.htm

From: abri1973 at wp.pl (Marek Argent) on 2008.03.10 at 00:49:45(17149) So let's start an action "every plant with a label" informing accurately about the correct plant's name no matter that it can be a species or cultivar. First when the plant comes from the first owner should by labelled correctly. The owner should identify what he has when he wants to sell plants. This clausule should be involved in the international law. ----- Original Message ----- From: ExoticRainforest +More To: Discussion of aroids Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2008 2:43 PM Subject: [Aroid-l] "Elephant Ear"??? Man, I hate that term! I'm sure just about all of you have seen plants in your local nursery, Home Depot, WalMart or Lowe's being sold this time of year with the name "Elephant Ear". I hate that term and no one at any of our local stores has ever been able to tell me what the species, or base species if it is a hybrid, might be. I've always assumed some sort of Xanthosoma but can't find anything. One note I recently received said it was a very large Caladium, but if it is, I can't find out anything about it. Does anyone on this forum know for certain? Although I've never seen one produce a spathe I'm told it produces a large white inflorescence. This is one plant I'd love to do a page for my website on!! Thanks! Steve Lucas www.ExoticRainforest.com __________ NOD32 Informacje 2932 (20080309) __________ Wiadomosc zostala sprawdzona przez System Antywirusowy NOD32 http://www.nod32.com lub http://www.nod32.pl ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L at www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l __________ NOD32 Informacje 2932 (20080309) __________ Wiadomosc zostala sprawdzona przez System Antywirusowy NOD32 http://www.nod32.com lub http://www.nod32.pl -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid-l/attachments/20080310/62304a03/attachment.htm

From: honeybunny442 at yahoo.com (Susan B) on 2008.03.11 at 01:16:13(17159) Michael, you can't go by those images! How about the photos of the bright yellow Arum cornutums..?? Or the neon purple Zantedeschia Anneke? +More RAYMOMATTLA at cs.com wrote: Ditto to what Brian said but alot of the big box stores also have "Upright Elephant Ears" as well....lol. From the images on the boxes they come in they are most likely Alocasia odora. Michael Mattlage _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L at www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l --------------------------------- Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid-l/attachments/20080310/f50f7fa7/attachment.htm

From: RAYMOMATTLA at cs.com (RAYMOMATTLA at cs.com) on 2008.03.11 at 23:34:55(17160) Your right Susan but the local Walmarts and Home Depots, (around South Carolina) have both "regular" MAMMOTH elephant ears....as they call them, which have an image of C. esculenta, and the "Upright" kind, (A. odora). Given that both species are pretty common in gardens around here I'd say it could be either but to tell you the truth I havent even picked up one of the tubers for comparison so I couldnt guarantee it. I guess what people call "Elephant Ears" can be regional too, although most people wouldnt know the difference between Colocasia esculenta, Remusatia vivapara, Alocasia mac., or any of the others. Michael Mattlage +More -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid-l/attachments/20080311/05d43989/attachment.htm

From: mossytrail at hctc.com (mossytrail) on 2008.03.12 at 02:09:23(17161) > Steve I find that just about all plants labeled > commercially as Elephant ear are Colocasias esculenta. > The Xanthosomas are a bit harder to find and I have > rarely seen them commercially available. Yet many times I > have seen photos of Xanthosomas being used to sell > Colocasias as well as Alocasias. And the problem is not just in the nusery trade! I have seen photos of Alocasia and Xanthosoma being used interchangeably even in what are supposed to be identification guides. In fact, I had to make note of this fact in both my Aroideana articles. In one of my sources, a photo of Xanthosoma was used to illustrate a species account of Schismatoglottis! And when we consider popular books other than identification guides, the problem is not limited to Araceae, either. I've lost track of the number of times I've seen photos of seedling cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto), too young to have developed a trunk, incorrectly captioned as saw palmetto (Serenoa repens). +More With shenanigans like this going in on in paper publications, it is no wonder the identifications on eBay are such a mess. Jason Hernandez Naturalist-at-Large

From: Steve at ExoticRainforest.com (ExoticRainforest) on 2008.03.12 at 07:15:08(17162) Thanks for the assist to everyone! I've rewritten my web page on Colocasia esculenta which now reflects some of the information I've been sent. Still more to learn but I think I've got a better handle on this now. http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Colocasia%20esculenta%20large%20pc.html Steve Lucas +More www.ExoticRainforest.com > Steve I find that just about all plants labeled > commercially as Elephant ear are Colocasias esculenta. > The Xanthosomas are a bit harder to find and I have > rarely seen them commercially available. Yet many times I > have seen photos of Xanthosomas being used to sell > Colocasias as well as Alocasias. And the problem is not just in the nusery trade! I have seen photos of Alocasia and Xanthosoma being used interchangeably even in what are supposed to be identification guides. In fact, I had to make note of this fact in both my Aroideana articles. In one of my sources, a photo of Xanthosoma was used to illustrate a species account of Schismatoglottis! And when we consider popular books other than identification guides, the problem is not limited to Araceae, either. I've lost track of the number of times I've seen photos of seedling cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto), too young to have developed a trunk, incorrectly captioned as saw palmetto (Serenoa repens). With shenanigans like this going in on in paper publications, it is no wonder the identifications on eBay are such a mess. Jason Hernandez Naturalist-at-Large -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid-l/attachments/20080312/d7408a19/attachment.htm

From: jonathan.ertelt at vanderbilt.edu (Jonathan Ertelt) on 2008.03.12 at 14:43:10(17164) Steve, I am without a doubt no expert in this area of proper names for the commonly grown large leaf aroids, (why I didn't add my two cents that may not be worth a plugged nickel here) but I do believe that you have at least two different genera illustrated in your page on Colocasia. Let's see how others better versed in this group weigh in. Jonathan +More >Thanks for the assist to everyone! I've rewritten my web page on >Colocasia esculenta which now reflects some of the information I've >been sent. Still more to learn but I think I've got a better handle >on this now. > >http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Colocasia%20esculenta%20large%20pc.html > >Steve Lucas >www.ExoticRainforest.com > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid-l/attachments/20080312/041a7e47/attachment.htm

From: Thomas.Croat at mobot.org (Tom Croat) on 2008.03.12 at 17:07:38(17165) Dear Steve: I quickly read through your page on Colocasia esculenta and found it very useful and thoughtful. Certainly those elements that you have there represent what falls in the parameters of C. esculenta but I am no expert on this Asian genus. I have never seen the very large plants grown by Brian Williams. They would appear to be twice as large as any plant I have seen anywhere in cultivation. Perhaps he is correct that it represents a tetraploid form. At least one of the two smaller forms are what has been called Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum. Check the pictures in Exotica. Tom +More ________________________________ From: aroid-l-bounces at gizmoworks.com [mailto:aroid-l-bounces at gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of ExoticRainforest Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 2:15 AM To: Discussion of aroids Subject: [Aroid-l] "Elephant Ear"??? Man, I hate that term! Thanks for the assist to everyone! I've rewritten my web page on Colocasia esculenta which now reflects some of the information I've been sent. Still more to learn but I think I've got a better handle on this now. http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Colocasia%20esculenta%20large%20pc.html Steve Lucas www.ExoticRainforest.com > Steve I find that just about all plants labeled > commercially as Elephant ear are Colocasias esculenta. > The Xanthosomas are a bit harder to find and I have > rarely seen them commercially available. Yet many times I > have seen photos of Xanthosomas being used to sell > Colocasias as well as Alocasias. And the problem is not just in the nusery trade! I have seen photos of Alocasia and Xanthosoma being used interchangeably even in what are supposed to be identification guides. In fact, I had to make note of this fact in both my Aroideana articles. In one of my sources, a photo of Xanthosoma was used to illustrate a species account of Schismatoglottis! And when we consider popular books other than identification guides, the problem is not limited to Araceae, either. I've lost track of the number of times I've seen photos of seedling cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto), too young to have developed a trunk, incorrectly captioned as saw palmetto (Serenoa repens). With shenanigans like this going in on in paper publications, it is no wonder the identifications on eBay are such a mess. Jason Hernandez Naturalist-at-Large -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid-l/attachments/20080312/5e0c2fce/attachment.htm

From: Steve at ExoticRainforest.com (ExoticRainforest) on 2008.03.12 at 17:11:38(17166) Re: [Aroid-l] "Elephant Ear"??? Man, I hate that term!If so, I'd love to know. Can you be specific? The page has been reviewed by Julius as well as several others who are familiar with the group known as Colocasia esculenta. Steve Lucas +More www.ExoticRainforest.com Steve, I am without a doubt no expert in this area of proper names for the commonly grown large leaf aroids, (why I didn't add my two cents that may not be worth a plugged nickel here) but I do believe that you have at least two different genera illustrated in your page on Colocasia. Let's see how others better versed in this group weigh in. Jonathan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid-l/attachments/20080312/b01f4759/attachment.htm

From: Steve at ExoticRainforest.com (ExoticRainforest) on 2008.03.12 at 19:57:49(17167) Thanks for reading the page Tom. I've been trading email much of the day with Leland Miyano and he appears to feel the photos are representative of the plant as it exists in Hawaii. I've been very hesitant to rewrite this page since I knew there would be those who would doubt some of the information. And that's why I did my best to make sure it was verified before putting it on the net. But, as I hope you know, I have no need to be right. I just want the information I publish to be accurate. This year, based on our tracking service, I'll have around 250,000 individuals read something on the site. If for no other reason than the large number of people who have found the site and return often, I need the information to fall within what is scientifically correct. Thanks again! Steve +More Dear Steve: I quickly read through your page on Colocasia esculenta and found it very useful and thoughtful. Certainly those elements that you have there represent what falls in the parameters of C. esculenta but I am no expert on this Asian genus. I have never seen the very large plants grown by Brian Williams. They would appear to be twice as large as any plant I have seen anywhere in cultivation. Perhaps he is correct that it represents a tetraploid form. At least one of the two smaller forms are what has been called Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum. Check the pictures in Exotica. Tom -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid-l/attachments/20080312/a33ee444/attachment.htm

From: piabinha at yahoo.com (piaba) on 2008.03.16 at 22:03:33(17184) well, you all know by now what a mess common names are. i have not yet seen elephant ear to refer to Anth., Philo., not even Caladium, it's usually reserved for Colocasia, Xantho. and sometimes Alocasia. +More the worse was years ago at the philadelphia flower show, there were vendors selling Zamio. seedlings, calling them pre-historic plants, and telling people they were the plants that dinosaurs munched on. of course, what they were thinking of were cycads... ========= tsuh yang ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping

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