Alocasia lauterbachiana

Discussion in 'Araceae' started by ianedwards, Oct 26, 2009.

  1. ianedwards

    ianedwards Active Member

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    My Alocasia lauterbachiana is getting too tall a stem. Can I expect it to survive if I cut it and replant the top half?
     

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  2. photopro

    photopro Well-Known Member

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    Since the stem is the portion that appears to be a "cane" at the base of the plant you can easily cut it off four or five inches above the soil line and repot the top cutting to form a new plant. The original stem which produces the roots will grow a new plant while the top-cut stem portion placed in soil will grow a second plant.

    The problem is both will eventually do the same thing again and there is no way to make them grow shorter.

    For those that don't completely understand the difference in a stem and a petiole this may help:

    http://www.exoticrainforest.com/What is a stem. What is a petiole.html
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2009
  3. trikus

    trikus Active Member

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    It will survive mate .. but if you like , just do one of the tops , looks like it has split into 2 .
    I would plant it out , after getting one to root . These New Guinea spp. have very long roots and you get few root tubers in the pot . They need to be able to spread out . Left in the pot , they run around and usually rot down the bottom .
     
  4. ianedwards

    ianedwards Active Member

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    Thanks Steve and Mike. I have done that with cordylines but was not too sure about this alocasia. It seems to propagate readily so could have just kept one of the offspring, but I rather liked its double head.
     
  5. trikus

    trikus Active Member

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    Another related sp to this is Alocasia boa , and I have seen several with tubers up to 1.5m tall . They looked amazing . Of course they eventually collapsed , but the dormant eyes along the length of the tuber remained after the main part rotted away .
    Lets hope these New Guinea beauties become easier to acquire. Though they can be very hard to grow well .
     

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  6. LariAnn

    LariAnn Active Member

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    I have the A. boa, and it is available here, at least in south Florida, at one nursery I know of. I'm certain it is closely allied to A. lauterbachiana because the inflorescence morphology and details of petiole morphology are nearly identical.
     
  7. ianedwards

    ianedwards Active Member

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    Just to compare, this was the petiole of A. lauterbachiana when younger,
     

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  8. trikus

    trikus Active Member

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    Keith Henderson had a beautiful large one in flower when I visited him many years ago.
    Really wish I had his fantastic hybrid Hendersons Pride .
     

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  9. LariAnn

    LariAnn Active Member

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    Is Keith still around, and do you know of anyone who does have his 'Henderson's Pride'? I've seen it only in David Burnett's monograph on the cultivated Alocasia, and there only in black and white. I'd love to know the parentage of that plant.

    RE the A. lauterbachiana picture with blooms, note how the spathe opens only at the male portion of the spadix. This is completely unlike any Alocasias such as A. odora, the macrorrhizos group, A. cuprea, etc. The blooms on A. boa, A. brancifolia and A. nishishira are all similar to those on A. lauterbachiana, but unlike any other Alocasia species. This is only reason why, IMHO, the plant should have been kept in its own genus (Xenophya) rather than lumped with Alocasia.
     

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