Tacca leonopetaloides

[Cindy Adair]

Weird, but wonderful.

I first saw this relative of the more showy white and black Bat flowers on an IPS visit to Madagascar. 
 

My little one goes dormant during the dry season so all the more reason to mark the site with a label.

 

 

[tropicbreeze]

These are native here. Highly variable, from broad leaflets to fairly fine ones, bushy inflorescences to sparse, and inflorescence from about 0.5 to over 2 metres tall. They seed a lot and germinate readily. I have lots growing all over my place. The photo compares human size (1.9 m) to the height of the flower (marked with an arrow as it's difficult to see). This is the tallest I've seen.