Alocasia cucullata, is a species of broadleaf plant that has flowers from the Araceae family. This plant is known by the names of Chinese taro, Chinese ape, Buddha’s hand and “hooded dwarf elephant ear”.
Alocasia cucullata, at this time has been categorized as an ornamental plant, because it has an exotic shape. The Alocasia cucullata plant grows in some parts of Asia, such as in China, India, Sri Lanka and Burma.
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Plantae
Angiosperms
Monocots
Alismatales
Araceae
Aroideae
Colocasiae
Alocasia, (Schott) G.Don
Alocasia cucullata (Lour.) Schott
- Arum cucullatum
- Alocasia rugosa
- Caladium cucullatum
- Caladium rugosum
- Colocasia cochleata
- Colocasia cucullata
- Colocasia rugosa
- Panzhuyuia omeiensis
This plant has a thick stem about 6 cm and upright can reach 80 cm from the ground. The range of leaves has a width of about 30 cm with a length of up to 40 cm in its natural habitat.
The dark green leaf (at first glance looks like plastic) has 4 main veins from the center of the leaf to the edge of the leaf on each side.
Alocasia cucullata rarely produces flowers. But when flowers develop, flowers are sometimes solitary and sometimes in pairs. It appears at the base of 20 to 30 cm long with a green colored wrap. The flower stems are yellowish or bluish-green up to 14 cm long. When fruiting this plant produces red fruit with a width of about 6 to 8 mm.
This plant is easy to grow and reproduce vegetatively when cuttings of stems or roots enter the soil.
The disease that often attacks Alocasia cucullata is leaf spot disease caused by the bacterium Pantoea agglomerans.
In China for a long time, it has been used in traditional Chinese medicine. Applications are used to treat snakebites, abscesses, rheumatism and arthritis. Inadvertently, the sap of this plant is also toxic due to the presence of calcium oxalate crystals (calcium oxalate crystals).
In addition, Alocasia cucullata, in Laos and Thailand, is often considered a bringer of good luck, so it is kept in Buddhist temples.