The Alocasia brisbanensis commonly known as the Native Elephant Ear or Cunjevoi Lily is native to the Illawarra region of Australia just south of Sydney, and all the way up to far north Queensland.
This beauty can be found growing as an understory plant along rainforest margins and in riparian areas along waterways.
The Cunjevoi Lily plant can grow to 2M in height with the stem reaching up to 12cm in diameter. The leaves are glossy and thick with a vibrant deep green colour, and the size of the leaves is thought to be an adaptation to allow the plant to capture as much of the low-level light filtering through the forest canopy as possible.
Native Elephant Ear flowers mainly during early summer producing a perfumed greenish cream-coloured spathe the tightly wraps around a thick 20cm long spike. While it does smell pretty, it contains a highly toxic alkaloid – in fact, all parts of this plant are poisonous and must be handled with care. Especially around children and pets.
As a hermaphrodite flower it has both reproductive organs, the top half of the spike is male, while the other half is female, it is easy to tell them apart due to different appearances on the spike.
If you’re interested in adding the Alocasia brisbanensis to your next restoration job, or maybe you just want it as a beautiful feature in the garden, don’t hesitate to contact our Nursery team for stock availability as the Alocasia brisbanensis is currently on special!
Please see our current Nursery Stock List for prices.
Image Credits:
- Banner and slideshow images from the Regen Australia Nursery.
- Alocasia brisbanensis (fruit): By sandid – https://pixabay.com/en/seeds-red-flower-pod-cunjevoi-lily-1234028/ archive copy, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60528011
regenaustralia.com.au 