[APD] Re: Elephant Ears

[<jppurchase at rogers_com>]

"... Thai slough that has the Caladium (didn't know of any other
species in this family other than the bicolor and the gigantia (elephant's
ear) ...The image has the elephant ear growing right at the waters edge with only
the white part of the stem above water."

Elephant Ears are NOT Caladiums, they belong to the genus Colocasia. Like Caladiums, they are helophytes which grow near water but not in water, although here again, Cook (1996) claims that there are around 6 species, 2 of which are aquatic. Taro  (C. esculenta) is probably the most common member of the genus and ought to be available in any Oriental market as a tuber. Both Caladiums and Elephant Ears belong to the same family, Araceae (together with 105 other genera, including Cryptocoryne, Anubias, and Calla).

James Purchase
Toronto
_______________________________________________
Aquatic-Plants mailing list
Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
http://www.actwin.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/aquatic-plants