ALOCASIA NYCTERIS

ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION:

SYNONYMS: Alocasia advincula (not validly published)¹, Alocasia ‘Batwing’, “Bat Alocasia”¹

CLIMATE: Tropical humid climate

Humidity is moderate throughout the year, ranging from 60% to 70%

Temperature is varies between the seasons - within the range of 48°F/9°C to 88°F/31°C during the day. Minimum temperatures never dip below 45°F/7°C

Rainy and humid season (October to May) and a dry season between June and October. The average annual rainfall is 1,200 mm

ECOLOGY: Remnant lowland forests and secondary forests. Common on rocky areas. Prefers shaded places along roadsides. It also grows in disturbed secondary forest near ricefields.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION:

Terrestrial robust herb to 1.5 m tall; stem erect to decumbent, up to 12 cm × 2 cm; leaves 2–4 together, subtended by cataphylls; cataphylls papery, up to 12 cm long by 2 cm wide at base, narrowly ovate, acuminate; petiole 45–100 cm × 1.5–2.0 cm wide, green with blackish-green streaks, sheathed from one-third to one-quarter its length, marginally marcescent; blade hastate to sagittate, 20–37 cm × 35 cm wide at the middle, coriaceous, dark glossy green adaxially, paler green abaxially, membranous when dry, margin deeply undulate to subpinnatifid; anterior lobe widely triangular or deltoid, acuminate at apex, 3–4 pairs of lateral veins nearly opposite, diverging at a 60–65° angle on each side of the anterior costa; axillary glands conspicuous, brownish green, 0.1 mm diam.; secondary veins very fine, 3 mm apart, arising from the anterior costa and primary lateral veins, then abruptly deflected to the margin, not forming tertiary collective veins; posterior lobes diverging at an 85–95° angle, up to 24 cm long; posterior costa naked in the sinus for 3–4 cm, tip rounded, in some leaves forked, with 3 primary veins arising from the posterior costa; inner side of the posterior lobe up to 4 cm wide at the middle, lanceolate.¹

INFLORESCENCE:

Inflorescence 1–2 together, subtended by cataphylls; cataphyll whitish green, narrowly ovate, 10–12 cm × 3–4 cm at the middle, mucronate to 2 mm long, thick when fresh; peduncle up to 24 cm long × 1 cm wide at base, light green with grooves at the base; spathe up to 10 cm; lower spathe tube ovoid, light green, 1.5 cm × 1 cm diam.; limb narrowly lanceolate, cucullate, pale yellow, tip acuminate, separated from the lower spathe by a short deep constriction; spadix shorter than the spathe, partly adnate to the lower spathe at 1.5 mm; female zone 10 mm long, 7 mm wide at the middle; ovaries light green, subglobose, 3 mm diam.; stigma 3-lobed; lobes erect, 1 mm diam.; style 0.5 mm long, brownish green; pistillodes reduced, irregularly shaped with holes in the center, 1–2 mm wide, whitish; sterile interstice 5 mm long × 4 mm wide, cylindric; whorl comprised of diamond-shaped to rhombo-hexagonal synandrodes, 2 mm wide; male zone 14 × 6 mm, cylindric, whitish green; synandria irregular to rhombo-hexagonal, slightly wavy at the edges, 1.5–2 mm diam., apical pores capped by synconnective; appendix 40 mm long × 5 mm wide, yellow, tapering. Infructescence oblong. Fruit a globose berry, 10 mm diam., orange when mature, 1–3-seeded. Seeds greenish-black, globular, 2 mm diam.¹

VARIEGATED FORMS: N/A

ETYMOLOGY: The specific epithet 'nycteris' alludes to the bat-shaped leaves of this plant. Nycteris is a genus of African and Asiatic bats comprising the hollow-faced bats. The species is known by its horticultural name “Bat Alocasia.” It was recently introduced in the horticultural trade as an indoor or pot plant. It can be easily propagated vegetatively by separation of the rhizomes. It is best grown under shade with adequate water supply. The plant is not only known in local markets, but also in the international markets.¹

NOTES: Alocasia nycteris resembles Alocasia sanderiana and Alocasia portei to subpinnatifid blade margins. It differs from Alocasia sanderiana by its larger, taller leaves, the broadly triangular, hastate-sagittate blade, longer posterior lobes absence of a silver white midrib and primary lateral veins. The color of the leaves both lower and upper surfaces while Alocasia sanderiana is shiny, deep blackish green purple in the abaxial surface. The species described here was first introduced to the public by an aroid enthusiast, Antonio Advincula, during a garden show of the Philippine Horticultural Society, Inc. (PHSI) in 2003. George Yao, former President of the PHSI, featured the species in the International Aroid Society Newsletter Vol. 5, No. 3 (Aug 2003) and named it Alocasia advincula.¹ The species name, however, could not be considered in accordance with the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Greuter et al. 2000) as it is lacking a Latin diagnosis, and there is no rank indicated and no citation of the holotype.

Conservation status. - Plants are still commonly found along roadsides and in private lands near secondary forests. At present the populations along accessible places are under threat because of over collection for horticultural purposes and from habitat destruction. No legal protection is given to the plant at present. Thus, it is highly recommended that appropriate conservation measures are imposed to prevent rapid decline of population. Mass propagation of the plant by tissue culture is an alternative to collection of the plants in the wild. No populational studies have been made and information is lacking about the biology, phenology, pollination and reproductive biology of the species.

CULTIVARS: N/A

HYBRIDS: Alocasia ‘Manta Ray’ (Alocasia ‘Borneo Giant’ x Alocasia nycteris), Alocasia ‘Nyctedora’ (Alocasia odora x Alocasia nycteris)