Alocasia indica
A large, clump-forming Alocasia from India, Bangladesh and the eastern Himalaya to Myanmar, Vietnam and Java, with big arrow-shaped leaves on long stalks. It is widely grown as a food and ornamental plant, and forms such as 'Metallica', 'Variegata' and 'Rubra' were once named as varieties. It likes monsoon warmth, rich damp soil and bright, broken light, and slows down in a cool, dry winter.
Where it grows wild
A robust terrestrial aroid, sometimes described as a subshrub, of damp, fertile ground: forest edges, ditches, stream banks and village gardens. It is so widely cultivated that many plants in its range are in or near settlements.
The two usable wild records are from the Kolkata area, near sea level (about 7 m). Kew's range also includes the Assam hills and the eastern Himalaya, so it grows well above the plains too.
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More Alocasia
Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app.