About Alocasia cucullata (Lour.) G.Don
Alocasia cucullata (Lour.) G.Don is a perennial aroid herb. It produces thick, erect stems up to 6 centimeters wide that branch from the base, and the whole plant grows up to one meter tall. Leaves grow in bunches on long, sheathed petioles, which are generally up to around 30 centimeters long, and have been recorded reaching 80 centimeters. The wide, roughly heart-shaped leaf blade can grow up to 40 centimeters long by 28 centimeters wide, with 4 main veins extending from the center to the edge on each side of the blade.
This plant rarely produces flowers. When it does flower, the inflorescence may grow singly or in pairs. It emerges from a 20 to 30 centimeter long peduncle, and is wrapped in a green to blue-green spathe. The yellowish or bluish-green spadix is up to 14 centimeters long. Fruiting is also rare, but when fruit forms, the plant produces red berries each 6 to 8 millimeters wide.
Alocasia cucullata has uses in traditional Chinese medicine, where it is applied externally to treat snakebite, abscesses, rheumatism, and arthritis. It is poisonous because it contains calcium oxalate crystals. It is considered to bring good luck, so it is cultivated and kept at Buddhist temples in Laos and Thailand.
