ALOCASIA ‘SEDENII’
Alocasia cuprea x Alocasia longiloba ‘Lowii’
PARENTAGE: Alocasia cuprea (listed in literature as Alocasia metallica) x Alocasia longiloba ‘Lowii’
SYNONYMS: Alocasia x sedenii, Alocasia ‘Sedeni’ or Alocasia ‘Seden’, even Seden’s Alocasia; incorrectly considered a synonym for Alocasia ‘Chelsonii’, Alocasia ‘Hybrida’ /Alocasia ‘Gaulainii’ and Alocasia ‘Orchid Jungle’ (see Notes);
ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION:
HYBRIDIZER: The Gardner Vol 3 (1869) P.314 lists a Mr. Dominy of Veitch Nurseries as the original hybridizer of Alocasia ‘Sedenii’ while Hortus Veitchii (see below) lists John Seden of Veitch Nurseries.
VARIEGATION: WHITE, YELLOW
INFLORESCENCE: Deep purple spathe and floral chamber
NOTES:
Alocasia ‘Sedenii’ is named after John Seden one of the most famous and prolific hybridizers of the 19th century, whose work at Veitch Nurseries spans across multiple plant families and gave rise to 85+ plants.
Alocasia ‘Sedenii’ was a succesful hybrid and received multiple accolates when it was launched in 1869: First-class certificate from the Royal Horticultural Society on June 1, 1869; and also a Gold Medal at the International Exhibition held in St. Petersburg, Russia in May 1869.
This hybrid appears throughout botanical literature, as early as 1869. It is most likely a hybrid of the same parentage as Alocasia ‘Chelsonii’ (though likely a different seedling line than Alocasia ‘Chelsonii’, as Hortus Veitchii (1906) P.103 lists them both separately, which indicates they did indeed posess different characteristics).
The ‘Wiener Illustrirte Garten-Zeitung’ (Austrian illustrated garden newspaper) wrote in 1886 that Alocasia ‘Chelsonii’ had white spathes, which is quite contrary to the dark purple spathes of Alocasia ‘Sedenii’, confirming that they were likely different offspring of the same cross.
Given that contemporaneous sources, including one written by a Veitch family member (see above), describe both Alocasia ‘Chelsonii’ and Alocasia ‘Sedenii’, it is the author’s opinion that there must have been enough differences between the two plants to validate the two cultivar names.
Contemporaneously, a few sources also mention Alocasia ‘Hybrida’, of the same parentage as Alocasia ‘Sedenii’ but originating from William Bull’s nursery, also in Chelsea, London, United Kingdom.
The “Weekly Journal of the Association for the Advancement of Horticulture in the Royal Purssian States for Gardening and Botany” (Wochenschrift des Vereines zur Beförderung des Gartenbaues in den Königlich Preussischen Staaten für Gärtnerei und Pflanzenkunde) is the only source that describes all three hybrids of the same parentage and indicates that Alocasia ‘Hybrida’ predominantly resembles Alocasia longiloba ‘Lowii’ while Alocasia ‘Sedenii’ resembles Alocasia cuprea (so much so that the authors indicated that when they saw it at the 1869 International Exhibition in St. Petersburg, Russia, they thought it was just a cultivar of Alocasia cuprea)
Photo by @amrand29
