PlantFiles: Upright Elephant Ear, Giant Taro, Wild Taro
Alocasia macrorrhizos

I have moved mine a couple of time to find the right spot. There was no tuber, only a large mass of very large roots. The leaves point skyward, unlike other elephant ears. I protect the trunk with a blanket and a trash can during freezes.

Fast growing large glossy green upright leaves once it sprouts, easily reach 8-10 feet with right conditions in one season. In areas of freezing temps, before first freeze I suggest digging up the bulbs, break off the smaller ones, let dry and store in the garage or attic over winter. If tops survive and come back, may flower in second year.

If the tops freeze, the main bulb becomes the mother bulb the following spring, no flowering. Tried mulching them in the ground, but could never prevent losing the tops in my area. Grows best in cooler soil with very wet roots, like a bog, drainage or heavily watered.

I was given an Elephant Ear plant a few weeks ago, and don't know why but the leaves keep turning yellow. It's one leaf at a time. I'm not sure if I am in area 9a or 9b. (Some sites even have me as 8b.) Anyway, it gets lots of water but I am unsure of the sun needs..maybe the sun is too hot here in the New Orleans area for full sun. In spite of this, it is growing and multiplying very fast! It's a beautiful plant and as my yard is full sun, I am hoping to grow it in the southern and western half of my house to help provide shade.

This might be the most misidentified plant on Dave's Garden. I think less than half the photos are of A.macrorrhizos- not sure what the others are.
A staple of the tropical type garden.Hardy to mid 20's,loves much watering and fertilizer.In the bay area can take full sun but might be a little yellowed. Develops a trunk up to at least 4'..stake if you want taller because at that height they may snap under there own weight.

I've planted this huge Elephant Ears in a semi-shade south facing front door. Here in zone 7b, SE USA. It thrives and appeared to get bigger last two years. This are planted outside (not in pot), survived the teen's F. temp this winter, and it's poking new growths off the ground. Love this plant.

I have had this plant about 3-4 years and every year it surprised me with it amazing growth. This is the first year it had seed and I almost missed them becuase the growth was so thick before I cleared it out. I am really please with this plant and put it in a 5 gallon pot to take it with me when I move.
This plant had more blooms on it this year than I remember in the past. I guess it is getting enough water and fertilizer.

2 of these plants are growing successfully in full sun in my garden along the southeast coast of Florida. I water it once a week if necessary in the summer and twice a week in dry months. I use palm fertilizer on it 3 times a year.

I live in Finchville, Ky just 25 miles from Louisville, Ky and a friend several years ago gave us an Elephant Ear Plant. We actually started a new plant from it two years ago by cutting it and putting rootone on it, got two plants; one which we shared. I have the plant in a pot on our glassed in front porch which has baseboard heating, ceiling fans with lights, and a humidifier. This is where I also grow my orchids and other plants. I noticed yesterday that there is what looks like a bloom starting. After reading your comments on the forum, I am convinced. I noticed that several people mentioned how it dies back. Mine has never died back in the 4 or more years I have had it.

The Upright Elephant Ear or Wild Taro or Giant Taro is a very attractive species great for decoration uses in fish or koi ponds, lakes, and other waterfrontages. It is also excellent if you want a green, tall mass of elephant-ear-shaped leaves as landscaping around houses outside. If you have room or a large pot, a very tropical backdrop as a houseplant. Very lush and easy to grow. Likes moist and wet areas and soil. May spread quickly outside and become invasive if not kept under control, which is needed if you don't want it taking over surroundings and native wetlands or vegetation. Overall, a very tropical foilage planting great anywhere, either indoors or oudoors - where you have space, of course, and if you can control its spread by pulling out the root and underground bulb outdoors.

MORE FACTS - Widely used as an ornamental throughout the Tropics.

I love the look of Elephant Ears, which serve as perennials here in the southern tip of Illinois. They definitely add a 'tropical' look to any garden!

There are many "elephant ear" look alikes. One way to tell Colocasia from Alocasia, Xanthosoma, and others is that Colocasia is peltate (the leaf petiole attaches to the leaf blade in the center, not at an edge like all of the others). Sorry I can't offer more help on distinguishing the others. Here in Missouri, the Lowe's, Walmarts, etc all carry Colocasia bulbs.

All my relatives in South Louisiana had this plant in their yards, and my Mother grew it too as it was cheap to buy the readily available, large, ridged, brown tubers. Every Spring in the Deep South you can find bins or baskets of these tubers for sale for a few dollars in garden centers of stores like Home Depot, Lowe's, WalMart, K-mart--even the grocery stores. This particular Elephant Ears is a clumper, staying where you put it, and over time the plants become quite large. The plant is native to Tropical Asia, and is evergreen down to about 29F degrees.

It will freeze to the ground here in Northcentral Florida, zone 8b, but comes back reliably, getting taller, with larger leaves, every year it is in the ground. It grows larger near water, and has naturalized here in Florida, even in urban areas. In the Clearwater, Florida area there are canals with their banks lined with huge specimens of this Elephant Ear, and bananas too--both growing down into the water and screening back yards from passing boats. Native plant enthusiasts discourage their use, of course, but they are here in Florida to stay.

They are also used in Florida landscaping in flower beds up against a house, especially near the front entrance, for their dramatic and tropical appearance. They are also planted where drainpipes from gutters come down, as they love moisture, and help keep the lawn from washing out. And of course they make a dramatic backdrop for a pond.

I have never seen any growing in a pot, but I imagine if you had a big enough pot, and could water them enough, the plant would provide tropical interest in a Northern garden. Seems like a lot of work, though, as they get so large, and would probably have to be owerwintered in a greenhouse.

I agree that some of the Elephant Ears pictured above are not of the common A. macrorrhiza, or Giant Alocasia, the heirloom Elephant Ear of the Deep South, but aren't they attractive!

Bright red-colored seeds are located at the tip of the Spathe and are covered within a conical shroud. The shroud then peels off to expose the mature seeds. And then the birds and other critters are attracted by the bright red color. Eventually they disperse the seeds for future generations of the Alocasia macrorrhiza.
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All Colocasias, Alocasias and Xanthosomas have leaves
pointing downwards excepting Alocasia macrorrhiza.
The leaves of the A macrorrhiza always point up and hence
the name, Upright Elephant Ear.

There are many aroids that are similar in appearance. The photograph posted by easter is a Xanthosoma sagittifolia (not A. macrorrhiza). I don't know what the one is in kennedy's pictures, but it's not A. macrorrhiza. I'd love to know -- I'd love to have one! The leaves look like Remusatia vivipara, but not the growth habit. I can't comment on the inflorescense.

An Elephant Ear with large fan like leaves, growing in an up-right direction. An attractive tropical plant, may be potted.