ALOCASIA ‘AMAZONICA’
Alocasia sanderiana x Alocasia longiloba ‘Watsoniana’
PARENTAGE: A. sanderiana x A. longiloba ‘Watsoniana’
SYNONYMS: Alocasia x amazonica (not accepted, see notes)
HYBRIDIZER: Salvadore Mauro (circa 1950s, Amazon Nurseries, Miami, FL)
VARIEGATED FORMS: White, Yellow
DESCRIPTION: Originally known as Alocasia x amazonica, this hybrid name was never validly registered and has been confirmed to be of horticultural origin.
In contrast to what the "Amazonica" epithet suggests, the plant does not originate from the Amazon jungle or region, as Alocasia is strictly an Asian genus.
The name appears to have originated in the 1950s from a now-defunct Florida nursery called "Amazon Nursery", whose owner Salvadore Mauro bred the plant from 2 parents (A. longiloba ‘Watsoniana’ and A. sanderiana), and subsequently named it after his nursery.
This cross has been one of the most prolific in the genus Alocasia, with some of its “cousins” being more famously known than the others:
Alocasia ‘Mark Campbell’ by David Fell of Hawaiian Sunshine Nursery
Alocasia ‘Mortefontanensis’ by Édouard-François André
Alocasia ‘Purpley’ by Bill Rotolante of Silver Krome Gardens
Given the high variability of what literature labeled as Alocasia longiloba it is not surprising that the results of this cross by multiple hybridizers have produced such different hybrids. One can group Alocasia ‘Jean Merkel’ and Alocasia ‘Mark Campbell’ together, while Alocasia ‘Amazonica’, Alocasia ‘Mortefontanesis’ and Alocasia ‘Purpley’ are also closely related.
HYBRID DUPES:
Sellers and buyers often confuse Alocasia ‘Amazonica’ with Alocasia ‘Polly’, a smaller mutant of Alocasia ‘Amazonica’, which originated with Denis and Bill Rotolante at Silver Krome Gardens in Homestead, Florida.
NOMENCLATURE DEBATE:
This artificial hybrid was originally thought to share the same parents as Alocasia × mortfontanensis André -- scientifically published by botanist Éduard François André as Alocasia mortfontanensis in Revue Horticole in 1891. This hybrid in turn was created by famous French horticulturists, the Chantrier brothers (Frères Chantrier), in Mortefontaine, by crossing Alocasia longiloba ‘Lowii’ with Alocasia sanderiana. According to some aroid growers, there is no apparent difference between Alocasia ‘Amazonica’ and Alocasia × mortfontanensis, except that the latter sport larger leaves, although this could merely be a natural variation common amongst aroids.
Since the end of 2009, Alocasia x amazonica is no longer recognized by taxonomic authorities as a valid botanical name. USDA GRIN Taxonomy, which previously indicated André as the name authority, has as of November 16 2009 relegated this plant name to horticultural status (Alocasia x amazonica hort., nom. inval.).
On the basis of the plant's supposed shared parentage, Kew Garden's "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families" has also subsumed it as a horticultural synonym of the currently-unplaced artificial hybrid name Alocasia × mortfontanensis André, 1891.
Aroid grower Steve Lucas believed that the shared parentage was errorneous, as based on an anecdotal account related by respected aroid grower John Banta, who visited Salvadore Mauro's nursery. According to Banta, Mauro informed that the actual parents were in fact Alocasia sanderiana x Alocasia longiloba ‘Watsoniana’. Banta subsequently verified the claim by reproducing the exact same Alocasia ‘Amazonica’ hybrid by using the parents that Mauro mentioned. Banta also informed that André did clarify in his 1891 Revue Horticole paper that the parents of Alocasia × mortfontanensis were wrongly ascribed to Alocasia x amazonica. Along these lines, it is assumed that the 2 hybrids do not share the same parentage, and are therefore totally different.
Australian aroid botanist Alistair Hay had previously subsumed Alocasia longiloba ‘Watsoniana’ Sander (one of the supposed real parents in question) under Alocasia longiloba Miq., on the basis that the former can be regarded as a variant within the Alocasia longiloba complex. As for Alocasia ‘Amazonica’ itself, Hay (in correspondance with Lucas) thought that the hybrid could possibly trace its history back to 19th-century European horticulture, before being recreated in Florida in the 1950s. Hay also holds the opinion that while the hybrid epithet is geographically misleading, the epithet origin being the name of Mauro's Florida nursery might be correct. As such, he supports the case for the International Aroid Society (IAS) or International Cultivar Registration Authority (ICRA) to publish Alocasia 'Amazonica' as a valid cultivar name to be used in place of Alocasia x amazonica.
