ALOCASIA ‘SARIAN’*
ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION:
Alocasia ‘Sarian’ is an undescribed species originating from Ilocos Norte, a province on the island of Luzon, in the northern Philippines
SYNONYMS: N/A
DISTRIBUTION: Ilocos Norte, a province on the island of Luzon, in the northern Philippines
CLIMATE: Tropical humid climate
Humidity is moderate throughout the year, ranging from 60% to 70%
Temperature is varies between the seasons - within the range of 48°F/9°C to 88°F/31°C during the day. Minimum temperatures never dip below 45°F/7°C
Rainy and humid season (October to May) and a dry season between June and October. The average annual rainfall is 1,200 mm
ECOLOGY: N/A
SPECIES DESCRIPTION:
INFLORESCENCE:
VARIEGATED FORMS: YELLOW
ETYMOLOGY: The species is named after of the late Zacarias ‘Zac’ Bolong Sarian, a Filipino journalist who served as the agriculture columnist for the Manila Chronicle in the 1960s, and later on as the editor of Philippine Farms and Gardens until its last issue in 1972.
Mr. Sarian mentioned that in the early 1980s, a Singaporean buyer asked him to conduct an exhaustive survey of Aglaonema species in the Philippines and collect new specimens. Among the collected Aglaonema, one of the plant traders delivered some offshoots of what is now known as Alocasia ‘Sarian’. Visitors from the Australian chapter of IAS then visited Mr. Sarian and bought some propagations from him, then later wrote about this new finding in Aroideana.
NOTES:
Despite many sources claiming Alocasia ‘Sarian’ is a hybrid of Alocasia zebrina and Alocasia micholitziana, Zac Sarian made an important correction, that it is a plant that is indigenous to the Philippines, with a population that is geographically wide-spread, and which does not overlap with both of the suspected parents.
In Sep 2020, Fernando Biglang-awa Aurigue, plant breeder and research scientist formerly with UP Los Baños and now with the Nuclear Research and Development Institute, reiterated that Alocasia ‘Sarian’ is still considered a variety of Alocasia macrorrhizos because of the similarity in floral structures and the presence of this species in Ilocos Norte. There is a group currently conducting genetic studies to confirm its taxonomic status.
Alocasia 'Sarian' and Alocasia micholitziana can be found growing sympatrically at about 850 m elevation, This represents Alocasia ‘Sarian’s upper altitudinal limit, and Alocasia micholitziana's lower elevational limit — there is no Alocasia Sarian growing above this altitude, nor Alocasia micholitziana below it.
Additionaly, Alocasia ‘Sarian’ doesn’t exhibit signs of it being a natural hybrid. Alocasia micholitiziana has a velvety leaf texture vs. the thinly 'rubbery' texture of Alocasia 'Sarian', shallowly undulate leaf margins vs. deeply sinuate, and sub-peltate petiole insertion vs. petiole insertion at the junction of the posterior lobes.
CULTIVARS: N/A
HYBRIDS: N/A
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