Alocasia Polly is a striking and unusual tropical plant. Possessing deep green leaves accentuated by whitish or silver leaf veins, it is typically a house plant. The leaves have an arrowhead shape with ‘serrated’ edges, and can grow longer than a foot on some of the larger varieties. The plant itself can grow to be about two feet tall in favorable conditions.

Alocasia Polly has many different names, which is indicative of its somewhat confused and murky history. Its nick names include African Mask, Elephant Ear, Green Velvet, and occasionally Alocasia Alligator. It is most widely known as Alocasia Amazonica, which most people incorrectly assume is its scientific name. However, the reality is that the plant has no scientific name. The reason for this is that the Alocasia Polly is not actually a separate species but a hybrid of Alocasia longiloba and Alocasia sanderiana.

This is important because Alocasia Polly can’t actually be found in nature, since hybrids are typically sterile. The name Amazonica seems to imply that it comes from the rain forests of the Amazon Basin, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. The reality is it was probably created in the 1950s by a man named Salvadore Mauro, who owned a nursery in Miami called the ‘Amazon Nursery’. The name has since been applied for almost 60 years to this popular hybrid bred from Southeast Asian parents.

The name Alocasia Polly itself is also a misnomer. A smaller variety of Amazonica, its creators believed they had discovered a ‘polyploid’ form of the plant. A polyploid specimen is one that has an extra set of chromosomes. Polyploidy can cause irregularities in the plant including a difference in size. DNA tests on the plant have since proven the assumption that it is a polyploid to be wrong. Strangely, the discoverers of this form of the plant named it Alocasia Poly, but for some reason nurseries have adopted the name ‘Polly’. So the name is not only a misnomer, but it’s also misspelled!

One of the reasons there is so much confusion surrounding Alocasia Polly is because of the huge amount of variation within even specific species of Alocasia. This is compounded by numerous hybrids like Amazonica Polly. Even within a specific species of Alocasia there can be large differences in leaf size and color, and one specimen found in one part of Asia can look totally different from another found elsewhere despite the fact they are genetically the same.

Alocasia Polly has something of a reputation for being difficult to care for, but in the right conditions the plant is actually very low maintenance. They grow in warm places near lots of water, so it’s important to make sure the plant’s potting mix is always kept damp. Too much water can cause root rot of course, but allowing the soil to repeatedly dry out is a sure-fire way to lose the plant. Alocasia also loves bright or even direct sunshine, so keep it close to a window that gets lots of light if it’s being used as a house plant. As an outdoor plant it will require a warm environment, anything less than 55° F will send Alocasia Polly into a ‘dormant’ state, dropping its leaves and not growing any more until the warmer months. It can’t survive freezing temperatures. Assuming these conditions can be met, it should thrive.

BloomRite® Gardens offers Alocasia Polly in 4 inch, 6 inch, and 8 inch grower’s pots. The 8 inch variety comes in hanging baskets and costs $7.40 per plant. The 6 inch and 4 inch pots cost $6.00 and $3.30, respectively. The 4 inch plants are sold in flats of 15.