ALOCASIA ‘SERENDIPITY’*
UNDESCRIBED
Alocasia hybridizer LariAnn Garner of Aroidia Research found this plant at an obscure nursery with a name tag that only said "Alocasia ‘Black Stem’" and she noticed it was different than the black-petioled Alocasia macrorrhizos ‘Plumbea’ that was available on the market at the time.
LariAnn notes that she thought at first that it looked similar to Alocasia alba and Alocasia sarawakensis, the latter with which it had a few morphological similarities. She initially named it Alocasia sarawakensis ‘Dark' and considered it to be a chimeric variant of Alocasia sarawakensis whose coloration was similar to that of the Alocasia macrorrhizos ‘Plumbea’ (also incorrectly named Alocasia plumbea 'Nigra' in the past)
LariAnn introduced her find into commercial production in tissue culture in 2015, and ultimately named the all-dark version of this plant Alocasia ‘Serendipity’. She also notes that some of her offshoots were distinct, showing completely light green petioles and abaxial veins (free of purplish color, being light green in color).
Photo by LariAnn Garner
SYNONYMS: N/A
DISTRIBUTION: Unknown
CLIMATE: Unknown
ECOLOGY: Unknown
SPECIES DESCRIPTION: At first glance Alocasia ‘Serendipity’ is similar in presentation to Alocasia alba and Alocasia sarawakensis, however the adaxials and abaxials are both reddish-bronze. Alocasia ‘Serendipity’ also have a very fine fuzz or layer of peach-fuzz sized hair on the abaxial side. Additionally it also has puckered or somewhat bullate leaves while Alocasia sarawakensis has smooth leaves.
INFLORESCENCE: LariAnn did a preliminary study of the inflorescence of Alocasia ‘Serendipity’ comparing it to the inflorescence of Alocasia sarawakensis which suggested that this plant is not a variant of Alocasia sarawakensis. The morphology of the inflorescence is more typical of plants in the Alocasia macrorrhizos
VARIEGATED FORMS: PINK and WHITE (unconfirmed if variegated plants currently on the market are actually Alocasia ‘Serendipity’)
ETYMOLOGY: This species’ epithet was given by LariAnn to highlight the manner in which she found the plant at a nursery (serendipity is the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way)
NOTES: N/A
CULTIVARS: N/A
HYBRIDS: N/A
REFERENCES:
