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Species library › Amorphophallus › Amorphophallus paenifolius
Aroids Well documented

Amorphophallus paenifolius

Elephant foot yam

Amorphophallus paeoniifolius is the elephant foot yam, a large tuberous aroid with a leaf up to 2 m tall and a tuber of up to 15 kg. It is native from India and Sri Lanka through Southeast Asia to New Guinea and northern Australia, and is widely grown as a vegetable. It flowers around the start of the rainy season and rests dry in the dry season. 'Paenifolius' is a misspelling of paeoniifolius; this profile describes that species.

At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Dappled lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

A terrestrial herb of monsoon forest, forest edges, secondary growth and cultivated land, mostly in the lowlands.

Recorded from sea level to about 1040 m, median 139 m.

Andaman Is.AssamBangladeshBorneoCambodiaChina South-CentralChina SoutheastEast HimalayaHainanIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMalukuMyanmar

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app.