Re: Help i.d. these aroids

From: "Julius Boos" <ju-bo at email.msn.com> on 1998.05.14 at 22:59:10(2131) -----Original Message----- To: ju-bo@msn.com Date: Wednesday, May 13, 1998 10:08 PM Subject: Re: Help i.d. these aroids Dear Bob, The commoner blackish Aroids generally seen for sale are mostly Colocasia sp. To tell them apart at a glance from the available Xanthosoma species, look at the area where the two upper lobes of the leaf come together on their way down to the petiole (stem). In Colocasias they will join before they touch the petiole (peltate leaf blade), while in Xanthosomas they end at the main ribs BEFORE these ribs continue down to the top of the petiole (sagittate leaf blade). Hope this helps. Julius +More ju-bo@msn.com Well, I gotta get one of those from you--if for no other reason than to see what a true X. sagittifolia really is. Mr. Boos and Eduardo seem to think what I have (and what is pictured at the Mansell site) is X. violacea. That was my second thought about what I have. If so, there are many cultivars here in Houston. I recently went to a mom-and-pop place at which the hubbie specializes in growing "rare" things, most of which he has no idea as to the identity. He had a number of plants whose leaf color (not to mention petiole color) ranged from the dark, almost bluish green I have, to almost black. He thought they were Colocasia forms. I couldn't argue with him, but the leaf shape and size were so alike my X's that I feel these are forms of it.

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