PlantFiles: White Bat Flower
Tacca integrifolia

Found naturally in Southeast Asia and from eastern India to southern China, this upright species has lance-shaped leaves up to 24" long. The flowers, which open in summer and are carried in racemes of up to 30 blooms, are purple-red to brown and are backed by 4 green to purple-tinted bracts. Filaments up to 8" long hang from the flowers.
Zones: 10-12
CULTIVATION:
These frost-tender plants can be grown outdoors in tropics and subtropics, but elsewhere require the protection of a greenhouse. They need a humid atmosphere, some shade and a peaty soil. Water amply in summer, but allow to dry out almost totally in winter. Propagate by division of the rhizomes or from seed, if available, in spring.

I have grown both white and black bat flowers for years. Lately they have languished and would not grow. I repotted the white bat flowers in new medium consitsing of half Canadian Peat and the rest a mixture of decomposed bark, perlite, fine orchid bark, fine charcoal - probably any good potting mix. The newly repotted plants have taken off and produed phenomenal root growth in a matter of days (not weeks) with new, thick roots at soil level growng several centimeters a day. I have been told they like a pH of 5.5, and our water has a pH of 8 - so the reporting into peat must have adjusted the pH. Anyway, try this and see what happens. Yes they like humid air, lots of light but not direct sun, moderate fertilizer during summer. One plant went from 1 ft tall to over 2 feet tall and thre feet wide in a matter of weeks.

A very unusual flower. Plant must be in humid envirement and away from any wind or breeze as the leaves wind burn easily.