ALOCASIA ‘UHINKII’
Alocasia cuprea x Alocasia odora
PARENTAGE: Alocasia cuprea x Alocasia odora (the reverse cross that LariAnn Garner used to create Alocasia ‘Maroon Shield’)
SYNONYMS: Alocasia ‘Uhinki’ - original name, used before Cultivar names were standardized, adding the double -ii suffix; also Alocasia ‘Whinki’ and Alocasia ‘Whinkii’, Alocasia wentii Hort. (please see notes below)
HYBRIDIZER: Chantrier Brothers - circa 1897
"The Chantrier brothers, horticulturists and nurserymen from Mortefontaine, by Plailly (Oise), presented in the various competitions open for greenhouse plants, lots that, under different reports, left nothing to be desired and that have excited the highest admiration of the visitors. We will find in the list of awards of the Exhibition the list of rewards that have been attributed to these exhibitors; we will limit ourselves here to citing some of the most remarkable plants they presented, among them is the Alocasia ‘Uhinki’, a new hybrid derived from the cross of Alocasia metallica (Alocasia cuprea) and Colocasia odora (Alocasia odora). The leaves, measuring 60 centimeters in length by 40 centimeters in width, are dark green on the upper surface and a violet brown underneath. According to the Chantrier brothers, this plant can be grown in the ground during the summer as well as the Alocasia ‘Conspicua’”
The ‘Uhinkii’ epithet is likely referring to contemporaneous German horticulturist G.W. Uhink from Bühl, Baden, in modern day Germany.
VARIEGATION: MOTTLED, WHITE
DESCRIPTION: Leaves are green adaxially and violet brown abaxially; 60 cm long by 40 cm wide, stems light green
The cultivar currently sold as Alocasia wentii or more correctly Alocasia wentii Hort. (no resemblance to the described Alocasia wentii) has always been suspected of not being a true species.
The following strongly support that not only is Alocasia wentii / Alocasia wentii Hort. a hybrid, but that it is in fact the same hybrid of Alocasia odora and Alocasia cuprea introduced by the Chantrier Brothers in 1897 as Alocasia ‘Uhinkii’:
no documented collection or locality for Alocasia wentii Hort.
no published historical descriptions match the phenotype
Alocasia wentii Hort. inflorescence strongly resembles Alocasia odora
Alocasia wentii Hort. resembles LariAnn’s Alocasia ‘Maroon Shield’ which is the reverse cross of Alocasia ‘Uhinkii’
no pollen production: LariAnn Garner never observed any pollen being produced, which is characteristic of many hybrids
A karyotype of 42 chromosomes vs. the typical 28 in Alocasia, a clear indicator of it being a hybrid (see below)
Alocasia ‘Uhinkii’ began appearing in American plant catalogues as Alocasia ‘Whinkii’ as early as 1952 and it is easy to see how one person misspelling or mishearing “Whinkii” could have turned it into “Wentii”
Alocasia Genetics
When further researching this cultivar, I stumbled upon a study out of Japan that karyotyped the cultivated Alocasia wentii and found a 2n chromosome number of 42, which was odd given Alocasia species typically have 28 chromosomes. This was a clear sign of Alocasia wentii being an allopolyploid hybrid:
This type of polyploidy can happen when during the formation of the hybrid, errors in cell division can result in the duplication of the chromosome sets. If, instead of reducing to a haploid number (n = 14) during gamete formation, one of the gametes remains diploid (2n = 28), the resulting hybrid will have a combined total of 42 chromosomes (28 + 14 from each gamete). While quite common in crop plants like wheat and strawberries, where genetic variation and adaptation are more common, this is much less common in Araceae.
Chromosome Morphology: The description of the chromosomes at mitotic metaphase shows a gradual decrease in length and a symmetric karyotype, which is typical of polyploid species. The presence of both median and submedian chromocenters and the detailed karyotypic analysis indicate a structured and stable chromosome arrangement, despite the increased chromosome number.
INFLORESCENCE: N/A
Alocasia ‘Uhinkii’ (Alocasia wentii Hort.) inflorescence
Alocasia odora inflorescence
Alocasia cuprea inflorescence
