Alocasia macrorrhizos ‘Borneo Giant’

DESCRIPTION: Alocasia macrorrhizos ‘Borneo Giant’ is a cultivar of Alocasia macrorrhizos known to the market as early as 2005 when LariAnn reported on her experience with the cultivar.

True to its name, this cultivar grows very large foliage and thick trunks. It can be distinguished from Alocasia robusta through their inflorescences. Alocasia robusta produces inflorescences with a maroon-purple spathe above the constriction point, and creamy-pink color below, while Alocasia macrorrhizos ‘Borneo Giant’ produces inflorescences with green spathes that turn light yellow at male anthesis.

Additionally, this cultivar is the only one of Alocasia macrorrhizos to show a ruffled leaf pattern when mature.

HYBRIDS:

NOTES:

1. The name Alocasia ‘Borneo Giant’ was already in use by August 14th, 1998, when Alistair Hay, after looking at Krzysztof Kozminski’s Alocasia images, wrote that the plant labeled Alocasia ‘Borneo Giant’ appeared to be Alocasia longiloba ‘Korthalsii’ (a hedged identification, from photographs, of a single plant).¹ Kozminski replied the same day that the plant, after producing two more leaves, appeared to be a regular Alocasia ‘Amazonica’, and that it had since died.²

2. On March 27th, 2004, Peter Boyce wrote that the original introduction of Alocasia ‘Borneo Giant’ seemed to have been genuine Alocasia robusta, whereas nearly everything labeled ‘Borneo Giant’ that he had seen for sale in the United States was in fact simply a very robust form of Alocasia macrorrhizos.³

REFERENCES:

1. Aroid-L mailing list, Alistair Hay, August 14th, 1998

2. Aroid-L mailing list, Krzysztof Kozminski, August 14th, 1998

3. Aroid-L mailing list, Peter Boyce, March 27th, 2004