Very rare, very showy and very unusual, Cyrtosperma johnstonii N.E.Br. is a gigantic suckering herb to ca. 3 m tall, usually with one crown strongly dominant but eventually forming a clump of large crowns. Leaves several together, hastate to sagittate; petioles to 2.5 m long, irregularly and obliquely mottled white, green brown and pink, heavily armed with the spines coalescing into oblique combs; costae bright pink in young specimens, later with the laminas blotched reddish brown beneath and the costae green to brown; posterior lobes somewhat exceeding the anterior, to c. 70 cm long; peduncle similar to but shorter than the petioles.
The genus name, Cyrtosperma comes from greek 'Curved seed'; probably referring to the shape of the seed.
Cyrtosperma johnstonii
Name: Cyrtosperma johnstonii N.E.Br.
Type: herbaceous evergreen
Form: Rhizome geophyte
Family: Araceae
Native Range: Solomon Islands
Zone: 12-13
Habitat: not yet described
Height: up to 3m tall
Spread: 200cm
Sun: Part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: High
Leaf: Evergreen
Tolerate: Semi ShadeTaxon identifiers: PlantList-ID : kew-54887; IPNI plant ID : 86822-1; Tropicos ID : 2102543; GBIF taxonKey : 2871907; Encyclopedia of Life ID : 1111964; WCSPF ID : 54887; Plants of the World online ID : urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:86822-1; IRMNG ID : 11003250; iNaturalist taxon ID : 344195; CAB ID : 124366; World Flora Online ID : wfo-0000936218; Google Knowledge Graph ID : /g/122vx55b; Open Tree of Life ID : 3999179
Synonyms: = Alocasia johnstonii N.E.Br. ≡ Alocasia johnstonii W.Bull = Alocasia johnstonii W.Bull ex T.Moore & Mast.