Alocasia brisbanensis
Poisonous plant
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
elephant’s ears, aroid lily
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Monocots
Flower colours
Cream
Detailed description
A large perennial with stems growing along the soil surface over 50cm long; dense stands 1-2m tall are formed; mature plants have 4-5 arrow-shaped leaves 75x50 cm; numerous small, creamy, fragrant, flowers crowd a stalk which is surrounded by a pale green sheath; fruit (1cm diameter) are red and fleshy and clustered on the flower stalk (West, 1996).
Similar taxa
Often confused with taro, Colocasia esculenta. Alocasia is easily separated as the petiole attaches to the base of the leaf, the petiole attaches to the under surface of the leaf in Colocasia esculenta.
Habitat
Wetlands, streamsides, river systems, heavily disturbed shrubland and forest, damp frost-free open areas, regenerating ex-pasture.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Ecology
Flowering
January, February, March, April
Fruiting
Sept
Year naturalised
1867
Origin
Celon? or Tahiti? Native in E. Australia, Tropical Asia
Reason for introduction
Ornamental.
Life cycle and dispersal
Perennial. The leaves die back during spring and during this phase the stalks contain viscous fluid (West, 1996). Seed is produced and vegetative reproduction will occur from fragments. Dispersed by birds (West, 1996).
Other information
Poisonous plant
Toxins in the tubers and rhizomes but can be removed through cooking.
Etymology
alocasia: From the Greek a- ‘without’ or ‘lacking’ and locasia ‘lotus root’, refers to its similarity to Colocasia.
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
ALOBRI