Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Another calocasia ID needed, 1 by Metrosideros

Metrosideros wrote:
Very interesting reading on this thread!

According to Staples, George W. & Herbst, Derral R. 2005. "A Tropical Garden Flora": Keonikale's Taro can be referred to as Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum, as it produces runners and lots of juveniles. (I have not seen taro spread so much as Keonikale's, but this could be a response to the habitat it is in as Steve mentioned.)

As a follow up on what Steve was saying about Hawai'i: E.S. Craighill Handy in "The Hawaiian Planter" (1940) describes 346 varieties of Hawaiian Taro (Colocasia esculenta var. esculenta).
The Ke'anae Arboretum on Maui, in 1970, contained a collection of over 300 varieties of Hawaiian Taro. Regretfully, when the caretaker of that garden passed away, the collection fell apart. Today several folks are putting the collection back together, but it will never be as extensive as it once was.

Below is a description of Hawaiian Taro from "The Hawaiian Planter" in both Hawaiian and English terms.