ALOCASIA ‘PORTORA’
Alocasia odora x Alocasia ‘Portei’
PARENTAGE: Alocasia odora (ovule) x Alocasia ‘Portei’ (pollen)
SYNONYMS: incorrectly refered to as Alocasia x ‘Portodora’, Alocasia' ‘Portadora’, Alocasia ‘Portidora’, Alocasia ‘Portore’
Alocasia ‘Emerald Isle’ - Proven Winners obtained a patent for what they deem a select cultivar of Alocasia ‘Portora’ under this name.
Given Proven Winner’s aggresive attempts at renaming established and described species and cultivars, it comes as no surprise that they would attempt to profit from someone else’s intellectual property and continuing to throw botanical nomenclature and rules out the window.
HYBRIDIZER: LariAnn Garner (Aroidia Research)
VARIEGATION: WHITE, MINT
DESCRIPTION: The particular selection that is commonly sold came from a group that LariAnn calls ‘Portora Green’, named thusly because the petioles and the main leaf veins are green.
An additional group was created from the initial cross, that LariAnn calls the ‘Portora Red’, which had redish/maroon petioles and main veins, and a reddish spathe. LariAnn has stated that were that selection ever to make it to market, it would be under the hybrid name Alocasia ‘Thunder Waves’.
This hybrid is one of the largest ever created, with LariAnn showcasing a specimen that was around 12 feet tall (see below)
HYBRIDS: Alocasia ‘Sumo’ (Alocasia ‘Portora’ x Alocasia princeps)
NOTES:
1. LariAnn Garner of Aroidia Research reported that the name Alocasia ‘Portora’ was published in Aroideana, the journal of the International Aroid Society (volume 6, number 3, July 1983), before the plant was released to the trade.¹
2. Ron Weeks, who bought many Alocasia ‘Portora’ and Alocasia ‘Calidora’ seedlings and grew them out, reported that they ranged from lance-leaved miniatures to broad-leaved giants, and that the petioles and veins of the Alocasia ‘Portora’ seedlings ranged from reddish to pale yellow. With the help of Jim Georgusis he selected two forms of Alocasia ‘Portora’, a red one and a green one, and one form of Alocasia ‘Calidora’ for tissue-culture production. Both forms of Alocasia ‘Portora’ had large, broad, upright leaves and grew strongly, but the green form was dropped from that tissue-culture production because landscapers either preferred the red form or did not care.²
REFERENCES:
Photo by LariAnn Garner
Inflorescence photos from The Belmont Rooster
