It's obviously what everyone up North calls Elephant Ears, but that's not saying much because members of the genera Alocasia, Colocasia, Anthurium, Caladium, Philodendron, Monstera, and Xanthosoma all are sometimes called "Elephant Ears," and often within those genera several species also share the name. Any plant with large, arrowhead-shaped leaves is likely to be called Elephant Ears. All the various Elephant Ears' leaves look pretty much the same, so usually you need the flowers for identification. Happily, the plant in the picture is flowering, as shown at the right.

The upright, white item is a spike or spadix covered with tiny flowers and the horizontal white thing is a leafy sheath or spathe. Also note the purplish "fruits" below the spadix and sheath. With so many botanical details available you'd think that IDing the plant would be simple.

One problem is that on the Internet, which here is my main source for identification, many pictures are labeled with contradictory names. Another problem is that among the ornamentals there are many cultivars whose traits overlap one another.

Having said all that, I'm calling what's in the picture ALOCASIA MACRORRHIZA 'BLACK STEM', the "'Black Stem'" indicating that it's a special cultivar by that name. To browse a page showing several Alocasia macrorrhiza cultivars, with 'Black Stem' among them, visit http://www.agristarts.com/alocasia_main.htm.

A picture showing 'Black Stem's' black stems, with another Elephant Ear cultivar in the background that is larger and with regular green stems is below:

The 'Black Stem' cultivar is a smaller, more shade- tolerant form of the wild species, the "Giant Taro" of the Pacific islands and eastern Australian rainforests. The wild form, which can reach 15 feet (4.5 m) and taller has underground parts that are edible if cooked for a long time.

While I was below the plant photographing the flowers I looked up and saw something very pretty. It's below: