Alocasia
Alocasia × amazonica · the African Mask Plant
The plant called "Amazonica" has never seen the Amazon. No Alocasia is native to South America. It is a man-made cross of two Asian plants, likely made in a 1950s Miami nursery, and even its Latin name is not a real botanical one.
Family
Araceae
Origin
A man-made cross
In the wild
Does not exist
Indoors
0.3–0.6 m
Growth
Moderate
With pets
Toxic
Where it's from
A hybrid; its parents are Asian
No native range
The hybrid is a horticultural cross. Its parents are Asian, not Amazonian: A. sanderiana and A. longiloba.
An Asian, not African plant
Despite the "African Mask" trade name, the lineage is Southeast Asian.
Outdoors: zones 10–12
True tropical. Frost kills it, so it lives indoors almost everywhere.
A name that is a marketing fiction
It is sold as Alocasia × amazonica, but that is a trade name, not a validly published botanical one; the accepted name is A. × mortfontanensis. It is a sterile cross of two Asian species, likely made at a Miami nursery in the 1950s, named for an Amazon that none of its ancestors ever grew in.
A sterile hybrid
A man-made cross of A. longiloba and A. sanderiana, grown only in cultivation.
Polly is the small one
Polly is a more compact selection of the same hybrid, sold interchangeably with Amazonica.
It plays dead
Stressed, it drops leaves into dormancy. The rhizome can resprout; beginners mistake it for death.
How to keep it
LightBright, indirect
Part shade to bright indirect. Direct sun scorches; too little light gives leggy, poor colour.
WaterKeep consistently moist
Let the top inch dry, never let it sit in water or the rhizome rots. Ease off in winter dormancy.
HumidityHighA humid-rainforest plant. Dry air causes brown crispy edges and spider mites.
TemperatureAbove 16°CWarm rooms. Sensitive to chill and cold drafts.
SoilChunky aroid mixRich, loose and well-drained bark, perlite and coir so the rhizome never sits wet.
FeedingLightly in summerA dilute balanced feed in growth; stop in dormancy. Flush salts occasionally.
DifficultyModerate to fussyA demanding diva. High humidity and steady moisture, prone to stress dormancy.
With petsToxicInsoluble calcium oxalate crystals. Mouth burning, swelling, drooling and vomiting if chewed.
PropagationDivide the rhizomeNo stem to cut. Separate offsets or corms in early spring as it wakes from dormancy.
RepottingEvery 1–2 yearsWhen offsets crowd the pot. Pot up modestly.
What the data says
What it costs
A split market: the plain hybrid is a commodity, while variegated forms are a real collector tier.
$10–30
Plain Polly and Amazonica are cheap box-store plants. Variegated Frydek and rare species forms run from tens of dollars into the hundreds for heavily variegated specimens.
IUCN · Critically Endangered
In the wild
On millions of windowsills, while one of the two parents that created it is vanishing.
The hybrid is cultivated and not assessed. But its parent Alocasia sanderiana is Critically Endangered, endemic to a small area of Mindanao in the Philippines, where harvesting it from the wild is illegal. Thriving on every shelf, vanishing on one mountainside.
When it sulks
Drooping, leaf-dropOften winter dormancy, not death. The rhizome can resprout. Reduce water and wait.
Yellow leavesOverwatering and a soggy rhizome, or normal old-leaf shedding.
Brown crispy edgesLow humidity, dry drafts, or salt buildup from tap water.
Droops despite moist soilRhizome rot from staying wet.
Spider mitesThe number one pest, thriving in dry air. Raise humidity and check leaf undersides.
Varieties & company
The varieties
PollyAmazonicaBambinoFrydek (variegated)Dragon Scale
Pairs with · keep apart from
CalatheaAnthuriumFernsSnake PlantZZ PlantCacti
A new plant, every week.
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