Leucocasia gigantea (Syn. Colocasia gigantea) on 9-28-09, #41-6.
Leucocasia gigantea
Syn.
Colocasia gigantea
kol-oh-KAY-see-uh jy-GAN-tee-uh
Synonyms of Leucocasia gigantea (4) (Updated on 11-25-23 from Plants of the World Online): Arisaema fouyou H.Lév., Caladium giganteum Blume, Colocasia gigantea (Blume) Hook.f., Colocasia prunipes K.Koch & C.D.Bouché
Leucocasia gigantea (Blume) Schott. is now once again the correct and accepted scientific name for this species. The genus and species were named and described as such by Heinrich Wilhelm Schott in Oesterreichisches Botanisches Wochenblatt in 1857. It was first described as Caladium giganteum by Carl (Karl) Ludwig von Blume in Catalogus in 1823.
Colocasia gigantea (Blume) Hook.f. is now the synonym of this species. It was first described by that name by Joseph Dalton Hooker in The Flora of British India in 1893.
As of 11-25-23 when this page was last updated, Leucocasia gigantea is still in a genus of its own. It is a member of the plant family Araceae with 142 genera. Those numbers could change as updates are made on Plants of the World Online.
I am not sure when, but recent testing confirmed that Colocasia gigantea was more closely related to Alocasia than Colocasia. But, since there were other unique characteristics, it was reclassified as Leucocasia gigantea as it was named in 1857. Now the species is back in a genus all by itself for now.
Some information also suggests that Leucocasia gigantea is a natural cross between Colocasia esculenta and Alocasia macrorrhizos. That would be strange because its flowers and the way they grow is nothing like either species…
I bought my first Colocasia gigantea, as it was called then, from Wellspring Gardens in the spring of 2009. It was a very small starter plant and never did grow that large.
Although the Colocasia gigantea and Colocasia gigantea ‘Thailand Giant’ are the same species, their growth and habit are different. Brian Williams of Brian’s Botanicals gives a pretty accurate description of the difference between the two, so you can just read what he says HERE.
My Leucocasia gigantea did not survive the winter but I did buy a Leucocasia gigantea “Thailand Giant’ in 2012, 2017, and 2019.
I hope you enjoyed this page and maybe found it useful. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, I would like to hear from you. Please click on “like” if you visited this page. It helps us bloggers stay motivated. 🙂 You can check out the links below for further reading. The links take you directly to the genus and species of this plant. Some of the information below is not up-to-date and still use Colocasia gigantea. It takes time for some websites to catch up.
The Belmont Rooster 