Xanthosoma sagittifolium

Growing Information

Temp: 50°-90°F

Light: 2000-3000 ft-c but will tolerate lower light levels

Soil: Well drained, light professional mix containing 75% peat

Mature Height: 5-7'

Pot Size: 6-20"

Hardiness: Zone 7b

Major Pests: Snails

Diseases: Pythium Rot and Rhizoctonia Rot

Origin: South America

This stout, clumping herb of tropical South America is known by many as “elephant’s ear.” It is distinguished in part by its usually large leaves, with fleshy petioles to 6 feet long and broad arrowhead-shaped blades to 3 feet long (and nearly as wide at the blade base). These leaves arise from a broad corm; offshoots appear on short rhizomes extending from the corm. The species is most often confused with the taro plant, Colocasia esculenta, but taro leaves are peltate – the petioles attach to the blades at a point interior to the blade margin, not at the edge of the blade as in elephant’s ear and other members of the arum family.

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