ALOCASIA ‘LOCO’
Assumed as A. sanderiana x A. longiloba ‘Watsoniana’
PARENTAGE: Likely a somaclonal mutation of Alocasia ‘Mandalay’, which is itself a mutation of Alocasia ‘Polly’(A. sanderiana x A. longiloba ‘Watsoniana’)
SYNONYMS: N/A
HYBRIDIZER: Deroose Plants in Apopka, Florida introduced the Alocasia ‘Loco’ at TPIE 2010
VARIEGATION: N/A
DESCRIPTION: This hybrid or potential mutated cultivar was introduced back in 2010 by Deroose Plants but was not initially commercially sucessful and by 2019 it had almost all but disappeared from the market. It was put into tissue culture in 2023 and reintroduced to the market.
The original cross has been one of the most prolific in the genus Alocasia, with some of its “cousins” being more famously known than the others:
Alocasia ‘Amazonica’by Salvadore Mauro of Amazon Nursery
Alocasia ‘Balloon Heart’ - South Korea
Alocasia ‘Polly’ by Bill Rotolante of Silver Krome Gardens
Alocasia ‘Mandalay’ by Bradford Botanicals
Alocasia ‘Loco’ - by Deroose Plants
Alocasia ‘Purpley’ by Bill Rotolante of Silver Krome Gardens
Alocasia ‘Venom’ by Mason Lee of Mason Plants
Alocasia ‘Mark Campbell’ by David Fell of Hawaiian Sunshine Nursery
Alocasia ‘Mortefontanensis’ by Édouard-François André
Given the high variability of what literature labeled as Alocasia longiloba it is not surprising that the results of this cross by multiple hybridizers have produced such different hybrids. One can group Alocasia ‘Jean Merkel’ and Alocasia ‘Mark Campbell’ together, while Alocasia ‘Amazonica’, Alocasia ‘Mortefontanesis’ and Alocasia ‘Purpley’ are also closely related.
While similar, this is a distinct cultivar from Alocasia cucullata ‘Crinkles’, Alocasia sanderiana ‘Lailah’, Alocasia macrorrhizos ‘Shock Treatment’ and Alocasia ‘Venom’
INFLORESCENCE: N/A
