xSpecialocasia vietnamensis
"Phat Chance"
The first I've ever heard of this plant was when Tony Avent (Plant Delights, Juniper Level Botanic Garden) contacted me about a plant he had discovered and collected during a trip to North Vietnam. On August 18, 2005, he and his companions discovered a group of Leucocasia gigantea, Alocasia odora and apparent intermediates or hybrids of the two species, growing in situ together. The location was about 10 km outside of Ha Giang, not too far from the Chinese border. He collected some specimens of the hybrids and brought them back to the USA. When he contacted me about what he had found, he offered me some of these plants for my work. It is these plants and their progeny that I am documenting here on this part of my website. For additional information about Tony's trip in 2005, see Tony's 2005 Trip
Since that fateful trip and discovery, Tony has given the whimsical name xSpecialocasia vietnamensis "Phat Chance" to this hybrid.
The three pictures below are courtesy of Tony Avent, and they were taken in situ in north Vietnam at the location where the natural hybrid was found. The first picture shows the Leucocasia, Alocasia and the xSpecialocasia in their habitat presentation. Leucocasia is at the rear, the hybrids are in the middle and Alocasia odora can be seen in front.
In the second shot, you get a good view of hybrid leaves, with a Leucocasia leaf peeking up in the rear. The leaves on the hybrid shown here in habitat are very similar to the leaves shown on the plants sent to me by Tony.
The third picture below is notable in that it shows the Leucocasia clearly at the rear and Alocasia odora clearly in front. Note that the A. odora plant is showing some coloration on the petioles - this indicates to me that the plant seen here is Alocasia odora 'azurea', the Chinese Blue Odora, and not the regular all-green A. odora. Further proof of this is that the hybrid shows dark petioles, while the Leucocasia has all-green petioles and the only A. odora variety with color is the Chinese Blue Odora. This location being near the Chinese border, it is very likely that Blue Odoras would be in the vicinity, as seen in the picture.
To see more of my work with xSpecialocasia, click Fruiting and Seedlings
| In the Lab | In the Field | The Species | Fruiting | The Hybrids |