Ape or Kalo?

[Wai`anae Steve]

How do you tell the difference between them Ape (Alucasia) and Kalo (Colocasia)?

I read somewhere that Ape leaves always point up while Kalo leaves point down.

If that is true then in the back country of O`ahu you can find this Giant Kolo.  The leaves were over 2' in length.

[edleigh7]

I believe that Colocasia leaves are more pointed at the top than Alocasia. Aussiearoids, Michael, will know better than I...

[aussiearoids]

Sreve , super pix mate . Its hard to tell exactly what species it is , but I would bet on it being a Colocasia , it does not look like the usual Taro , or Kalo [never heard that one before ]  but it looks a little like the larger growing Colocasia gigantea .

BUT that species is usually a paler blue green color . Another BUT,  Colocasia usually have a whole series of flowers not just one ..or is it the first in a series ?

Will post a pic of C.gigantea flowers lather , tummy rumbling now .

[aussiearoids]

Here you can see the row of spent infloresences just under the leaf . It sets seed easily and grows well from seed . They can get very tall , 3m + in a protected spot .

A friend has a similar looking Taro [to the one you posted Steve] that was collected growing wild up a creek in the rainforest not far from me .