Alocasia 'Purple Cloak'

Alocasia 'Purple Cloak' is a compact hybrid cultivar named for its near-black, deep-purple petioles and stems, which contrast sharply against glossy, arrow-shaped dark green leaves. The purple pigment often bleeds faintly into the leaf margins and shows clearly on the underside of each blade, giving the plant a moody, richly coloured presence despite its modest size. Its exact parentage is undocumented, as is common for many hybrid Alocasia cultivars circulating in the trade, but it is widely grown for the stem colour rather than any variegation. It keeps a tidy clumping habit that suits smaller collections better than the genus's larger-growing species.

Native range

Hybrid cultivar in cultivation; parentage undocumented

Classification

Genus

Alocasia

Family

Araceae

Type

Cultivar

Growth habit

Clumping rosette

Morphology

Leaf shape

Arrow-shaped (sagittateArrowhead-shaped leaves, with pointed lobes at the base pointing downwards.)

Leaf length

18-30 cm

Leaf width

12-20 cm

Petiole colour

Near-black deep purple

Venation

Pale green, subtle

Texture

Glossy

Variegation

N/A: purple pigment confined to petiole/stem and leaf underside, not true variegation

Growth habit

Clumping rosette from a basal corm