Skip to main content

Elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius)

Suweg or whitespot giant arum or elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius) is a plant species in the Araceae, an annual herb but is considered bi-seasonal because the vegetative and generative phases appear not simultaneously, the leaves grow to produce tubers and flowers emerge from the tubers at the beginning of the rainy season.

A. paeoniifolius has a vegetative phase visible as branched foliage which is often referred to as a false stem or petiole, single cylindrical, large and vertical. The true stem is the tuber which is always below the soil surface.

Dlium Elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius)


The petiole grows upright up to 1.5 meters high, soft, light green to dark green and has white patches. Smooth surface is not prickly or rough prickly depending on the form. Single stalk into three secondary branches and will branch again as well as a leaf blade.

The leaf blade is attached to the stalk, is green in color, a bone in the middle and slightly curved with many veins to the side forming a bumpy surface and leading to a vein running along the edge. Point pointed and face down.

Stem tubers form tuber shoots from the side and can give rise to leaves so that they sometimes look like clumps. The tuber contains starch which is predominantly a white mannan component, often with a pink or purple tinge.

Elephant foot yam has a generative phase characterized by the appearance of flowers and seeds on the ground, reddish brown and yellow in color. Flowers arise when the energy savings in the form of flour in the tubers are sufficient for flowering. The entire leaf withers to leave a large tuber on which a flower appears.









Flower is compounded in a cob structure that is protected by a shingle. The blossoms are imperfect, gather on the side of the cob with male flowers located distal or higher than the female flowers. The blooms will smell of carrion to attract flies and help pollinate them.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Alismatales
Family: Araceae
Subfamily: Aroideae
Tribe: Thomsonieae
Genus: Amorphophallus
Species: Amorphophallus paeoniifolius
Form: Amorphophallus paeoniifolius ssp paeoniifolius, Amorphophallus paeoniifolius ssp burik

Popular Posts

Korean mulberry (Morus indica)

Murbei or Korean mulberry ( Morus indica ) is a species of plant in Moraceae, shrub or small tree, up to 10 meters tall, slow growing, cylindrical stem, light brown with white nodules, M. indica has heart-shaped or oval-shaped leaves and sometimes three-lobed, 4-12.5 cm long, 2.5-7.5 cm wide, pointed tip, serrated margin, green and has a stalk. Monoecious inflorescences with male and female grow on the same tree, though often on different branches. Male flowers have a size of 9-11.5 mm and are covered with fine hairs. The female flowers are subglubose or only round in shape, measuring 6-9.5 mm. Stigma is 3.5 mm long with short, thick hair. The female flowers form compound fruit and are fleshy, green and white-haired to white, red and black when ripe. Korean mulberry is used in regulating blood glucose levels in diabetic patients. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Rosales Family: Moraceae Genus: Morus Species: Morus indica

Broad-handed carpenter bee (Xylocopa latipes)

Broad-handed carpenter bee ( Xylocopa latipes ) is an animal species in the Apidae, tropical wood bees, very large, strong, solitary lives and builds nests by burrowing into fallen trees to telephone poles in forests and cities with warm tropical climates. X. latipes is overall black and shiny with black wings that turn bluish or greenish or metallic purple in sunlight. A pair of large eyes and a pair of antennae have broad bases. The back has a horizontal line. The abdomen is oval in shape with segments, the margins are wide and the back has thick hair. The broad-handed carpenter bee produces a loud, distinctive low-pitched hum that can be heard in flight. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Subclass: Pterygota Order: Hymenoptera Suborder: Apocrita Infraorder: Aculeata Superfamily: Apoidea Epifamily: Anthophila Family: Apidae Subfamily: Xylocopinae Tribe: Xylocopini Genus: Xylocopa Subgenus: Platynopoda Species: Xylocopa latipes

Malabar melastome (Melastoma malabathricum)

Senggani or malabar melastome ( Melastoma malabathricum ) is a plant species in Melastomataceae, shrubs, 0.5-5 m tall, woody stems, sympodial branches and reddish brown, scaly young branches or tightly haired, taproots and brown, widely used for materials ink and medicine. M. malabathricum has single and stemmed leaves, oval, 2-20 cm long, 1-8 cm wide, tapered, flat edges, rough and hairy surface, upper surface dark green and bright green underside. A straight bone in the middle and two curved bones on the edge. Malabar melastome blooms throughout the year, compound, clustered at the tips of branches and light purple, 3-4 cm in diameter, sticky petals, hair, short end, tapered tip, scaly protective leaves and reddish purple. The flower has 8-12 stamens, 3 cm long, pink, a pistil, potted green potted head and ovaries have 4-6 spaces. Five crowns, ovoid and bright purple. The fruit has a rough skin, dark red and has many black seeds with aryl, cup-shaped and 8 mm long. Ripe fru...