(Fwd) new unfamiliar plant

From: "Dr. Guanghua Zhu" <gzhu at lehmann.mobot.org> on 1997.06.25 at 19:25:58(895) Dear all, this is apparently from someone not in our 'Aroid Family'. Please help if you can. Hopefully, here comes the next member of the IAS. Thanks a lot. Please make sure copy your message to sue_scimeca@prodigy.com (MRS SUSAN J SCIMECA) if you reply your message to the list. Thanks. Guanghua +More ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date: Wed, 25 Jun 1997 11:04:58, -0500 To: zhu@mobot.org Subject: new unfamiliar plant Stumbled on your website through a search on Yahoo and was wondering if you could help me. I am just "venturing" into the world of ponds and bought a plant that "looked" to be a member of the Taro family. No one at the store that I boought it at knew what it was or how to grow it, but it was labeled with a scientific name..Alocasia Amazonica. After some research, I did discover that it was in fact a member of the Taro family and was a "shallow" marginal plant I could use in my pond. Could you tell me something more about this plant? Is it tuberous? Someone said the juice of the plant is poisonous, if so should i be concerned, I own pets and have a grandchild? How would I grow it in water? I remember from things I have seen on TV, that Taro is grown in water and that the Hawiaans use it for a food source. Correct? I was attracted to it by its rather "baazar" looks and would like to see if I can be sucessful with growing it. Thanks for any help you can give me. Sincerely, Susan Scimeca Guanghua Zhu Missouri Botanical Garden P. O. Box 299 St. Louis, MO 63166-0299, USA Phone: (314)577-9454 Fax: (314)577-9438

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