Alocasia^^ AvacecB. 359 



10. COIiOCASXA, Linn. 



Rootstock tuberous; 1. large, very stoutly peltately petioled, 

 ovate-cordate or hastate, with a triangular basal sinus; spathe 

 stoutly peduncled, tube thick -walled, oblong, accrescent, 

 persistent, mouth constricted, limb long, lanceolate ; spadix 

 shorter than the spathe, stipitate, appendage cylindric or 

 subulate ; male and fem. infl. distant, with interposed flat 

 neuters, male of densely packed cubical anth. or groups of 

 anth. with immersed cells opening by terminal slits; fem. of 

 crowded, globose, i -celled ov., stigma pulvinate, ovules many, 

 orthotropous ; berries obconic or oblong ; seeds oblong, 

 furrowed, endosperm copious, embryo axile. — Sp. 6 or 7 ; 6 in 

 Fl. B. Ind. 



C. Antiquorum, Schotf, Meletem. i. 18 (1832). G-ahala, 5". 



Thw. Enum. 335. Arum Colocasia, L., and Caladiiini ?ty/nphcEt- 

 folium, Vent., Moon, Cat. 64. C. esculentinn, Vent. C. P. 3724. 



Fl. B. Ind. vi. 523. Wight, Ic, t. 786. Rheede, Hort. Mai. xi. t. 22. 



Tuberous rootstock short, or elongating underground for 

 several feet, giving off long sheathed bulbilliferous runners 

 from the base; 1. 6-16 in., dark green, sometimes clouded with 

 black, bifid half way from the base to the insertion of the 

 petiole, basal lobes rounded, midrib beneath very stout, penni- 

 veined, with 5-7 veins radiating from the top of the petiole, 

 which is 3-4 ft. long, green or violet, sheath narrow; spathes 

 solitary or fascicled, stoutly peduncled, 8-12 in. long, erect, 

 narrow, green, tube 2-3 in., narrowly ellipsoid, limb erect, 

 lanceolate, acuminate, convolute; spadix about half as long 

 as the spathe, slender, appendage 1-3 in., cylindric or sub- 

 ulate; male and fem. infl. each about i^ in. long, separated by 

 an interval covered with flat oblong neuters. 



Streams and wet places throughout the island ; very common. Fl. 

 most seasons. Cultivated in all hot countries. 



It is difficult to say where this is wild; it is very much cultivated and 

 under many varieties. These are distinguished as Kandala, Tadala, 

 Yakutala, Wel-ala, &c. — Trinien. 



Roxburgh, Wight, and others, consider this plant to be wild over the 

 greater part of Tropical India. It is extensively cultivated, as the Kachu 

 in Bengal, &c.; the Taro in the Pacific Islands; Eddoes, Cocoes, and 

 Tanias in the W. Indies; and Egyptian Arum in Italy. All parts of the 

 cultivated plant are eaten, but especially the starch of the tubers, which 

 attain 6 in. in diameter. — J. D. H. 



11. AIiOCASIA, Schott. 



Rootstock tuberous, sometimes ascending and caulescent ; 

 1. large, very stoutly petioled, peltate or not ; spathe stoutly 



