Colocasia cf. yunnanensis

Colocasia yunnanensis C.L.Long & X.Z.Cai, Ann. Bot. Fenn. 43: 139 (2006) as per efi thread;
.

Set 1

Set 2

MS, July, 2026/04 Colocasia sp. for id: 7 images.
Location : Lurh tlang, Mizoram

Altitude : ca.1,800 m

Date : 29-7-2026

Habit : Herb

Habitat : Wild

Mizo : Bakhik / Vânbâl

Colocasia oresbia ?

Are there two different species ??

I can’t say. This Colocasia is growing in slightly higher elevation between 1,500 and 1,800 m altitude near Myanmar border.

Images 1,2,3 and 6 look like Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott.

Please check.

I have edited the photo set and added comments at the end alongside a plate from a paper describing C. yunnanensis in northern Vietnam. The tentative ids here are all I can offer!

The higher elevation at India/Myanmar border is consistent with a cold tolerant species found at lower altitudes in northern Vietnam and southern China.

If these plants can be confirmed as part of a widespread C. yunnanensis population or species group, that would be a major advance in our understanding of Colocasia biogeography!

PJ Matthews (21st August)

Photos 1-6 Colocasia cf. yunnanensis

Photos 5-6 Colocasia ?sp. nova (cf. yunnanensis)

Inflorescence of Colocasia ?sp. nova (cf. yunnanensis) has long sterile appendage contra C. yunnanensis.

The photos show two different species; both may be closely related to C. yunnanensis based on:

leaf shape (round with shallow sinus)
spathe aperture open for a large proportion of spathe
spathe convoluted and conical at top
petioles decorated with blotchy/uneven purple colour

1 pdf attached.

The altitudes of the new sites and in Vietnam/China are similar.

The wording should have been:

The altitudes at India/Myanmar border is consistent with cold-tolerant C. yunnanensis found at similar altitudes in northern Vietnam and southern China.

So it is actually Colocasia fallax Schott ??

https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77073364-1

That looks very weird to me! There may have been some old taxonomic confusion, but the currently recognised species are very far apart.

In fact, Colocasia fallax was very recently put in its own genus as Cryptocasia fallax… Which I think is probably realistic, from what we see at DNA level.

Actually, it is very difficult for non botanists like me to come to a conclusion easily. Databases say it differently. By the way, it is only because of the real botanists that we learn a lot and still in the process of learning. I just came to know that it was in April 15, 2026 while googling and not yet updated in any database except in the IPNI.

After retiring in March last year, I could do some fieldwork with one last research grant…

From now on, most of what I learn will have to come from the discoveries of others.

So I am very happy to see all the photographs you send!

References:
efi thread POWO (Syn. of Colocasia fallax Schott)
Colocasia yunnanensis (Araceae), a new species from Yunnan, China (Colocasia yunnanensis C.L. Long & X.Z. Cai sp. nova from China (Abstract: Yunnan Province, Yingjiang County) is described and illustrated. Diagnostic morphological characters that distinguish it from the morphologically fairly similar C. bicolor are presented. The clearest differences are that C. yunnanensis permanently has leaves with 5-9 pairs of big purple spots, a sterile zone with white hairs in the inflorescence, and a spadix without appendix. Chromosome number (2n = 28) was observed in the plants cultivated in the Kunming Botanical Garden)

Updated on September 1, 2026

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