Bat flower

Bat flower
	Bat flower ( Tacca chantrieri ), inflorescence
Systematics
Class :	Bedecktsamer (Magnoliopsida)
	Monocots
Order :	Yams (Dioscoreales)
Family :	Yam family (Dioscoreaceae)
Genre :	Tacca
Type :	Bat flower
Scientific name
	Tacca chantrieri
	André

The bat flower ( Tacca chantrieri , Syn. : Clerodendrum esquirolii H.Léveillé , Schizocapsa itagakii Yamamoto , Tacca esquirolii (H.Léveillé) Rehder , Tacca minor Ridley , Tacca paxiana H.Limpricht ), including Devil flower , Bat Plant , demons flower called, is a flowering plant from the genus Tacca .

description

The bat flower is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches heights of 80 to 110 centimeters. It forms thick rhizomes as persistence organs. It has basal leaves , with 10 to 30 cm long petioles and 20 to 50 (to 60) cm long and 7 to 14 (rarely up to 25) cm wide leaf blades.

The umbellate inflorescences are five- to seven-flowered (up to 18-flowered). The brown-violet bracts are very noticeable, four of which are bowl-shaped (two horizontal large and two vertical smaller ones) and up to 30 to 40 centimeters long beard threads are formed. The threefold flowers are initially upright and after opening they hang. The six bracts are also dark purple in color. The entire shape of the inflorescence is strongly reminiscent of a bat , hence the German name.

Dark purple, ellipsoidal berries are formed that are about 3 cm tall; the bracts are still preserved on the berries.

distribution

The bat flower is native to the subtropics to the tropics of Southeast Asia . The Chinese provinces of Guangdong , Guangxi , Guizhou , Hainan , Hunan , southeastern Xizang (Mêdog Xian) and Yunnan, as well as Bangladesh , Cambodia , India , Laos , Malaysia , Myanmar , Sri Lanka , Thailand and Vietnam are given as discovery areas. It grows in forests, in valleys and along rivers at altitudes between 200 and 1300 meters. It prefers moist, but not wet, partially shaded locations with high temperature and high humidity.

use

The very starchy rhizome was used as a food in Polynesia . However, since it has to be freed from bitter substances in a complex process, it is increasingly being replaced by sweet potatoes .

Since 2000 , tens of thousands of these species have entered the European market as ornamental plants , although they are relatively demanding as a houseplant .