Colocasia esculenta 'Black Magic'

Colocasia esculenta 'Black Magic' is a cultivar of the common Taro grown for its dark foliage. The giant, heart-shaped (sagittate) leaves emerge dusty green but quickly mature to a deep matte charcoal-black or dark purple, with a velvety texture. Unlike Alocasias, whose leaves point upwards, Colocasia leaves droop downwards, held on long, arching purple-black petioles that attach peltately near the leaf centre. In warm, wet conditions it forms a large clump that feeds a substantial subterranean tuberous corm.

Native range

A horticultural selection of Colocasia esculenta, which is native to tropical Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

Classification

Genus

Colocasia

Family

Araceae

Type

Cultivar

Growth habit

Clump-forming tuberous herb

Form of

Colocasia esculenta

Morphology

Leaf shape

Broadly sagittateArrowhead-shaped leaves, with pointed lobes at the base pointing downwards. (heart-shaped) with peltate attachment

Leaf length

40-60 cm

Leaf width

30-45 cm

Petiole colour

Deep purple-black

Venation

PinnateVeins or lobes arranged like a feather, branching out symmetrically on both sides of a single main central vein., dark purple veins on dark purple-black lamina

Texture

Matte, velvety, and paper-like (not leathery)

Variegation

None

Growth habit

Clumping stems rising from a thick tuberous corm, growing aggressively in wet soils