I was told that all colocasia elephant ears are colocasia esculenta. I don't believe this is right is it?
Thanks.
Elephant ears
Here is the scoop on colocasia esculenta: http://www.floridata.com/ref/C/colo_esc.cfm
And here (USDA): http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=COES
Not sure what you're asking, but hope this helps!
There's quite a few Colocasia species and you could call them all "Elephant Ears". Colocasia esculenta would be the most common and there are many different looking varieties of it. This is C. esculenta "Teacups".
That is likely true since Colocasia esculenta is extremely variable. There are more than 100 variations of this plant with blades that appear completely different growing in Hawaii. Many are food plants, others are ornamentals.
There are certainly more species of Colocasia but C. esculenta is one of the most commonly sold in the U.S. This will help to explain the confusion: http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Colocasia%20esculenta%20large%20pc.html
If you don't have a good understanding of natural variation this will help using photos:
http://www.exoticrainforest.com/Natural%20variation%20within%20aroid%20and%20%20plant%20species.html
Many plants use the common name Elephant Ear including Alocasia, Colocasia, Xanthosoma, Philodendron, Anthurium, Monstera and other genera.
Steve
I read some time back that there were some 2000 varieties of Colocasia esculenta.
According to the scientific sources, closer to 200 if you include all the hybrids.
Steve
That was from an agricultural paper regarding crops for tropical climates. They'd been cataloguing plants grown in different villages in Asia, New Guinea and Pacific Islands.
And the info may well be correct but is substantially higher than any figure I have ever read in a scientific source. I now possess at least 10 scientific papers on this species.
I just received this from Leland Miyano who is very much an expert on this plant in Hawaii,
"There are about 300 Hawaiian varietal names recorded. Of these, perhaps 150-175 types were recognized as distinct by the ancient Hawaiians, in 25 groups. Today, only 8 groups are known to survive. Perhaps 70 or so native forms persist, but, no one has large collections of these. Amy Greenwell Garden has a good collection, but, the high maintenance of these plants require that only a fraction can be grown out. There are other types that are not considered to be of Hawaiian origin as well. I am planting dryland varieties in the Bishop Museum Garden...but, only as a small demonstration."
I would suggest you try to contact aroid botanist Alistair Hay who was at one time the director of the Syndey botanical Garden. Alistair and botanist Pete Boyce are the best sources of good information on the species. Pete provided many of the papers in my files.
Drop me a private note and I will give you both of their email addresses since we correspond on a regular basis.
Steve