Tacca chantrieri
The size of the plant and of its bag can vary a little from the photograph — each one grows at its own pace. We keep them as consistent as we can.
Overview
One of the strangest flowers in the plant world: black, shaped like a bat with its wings spread, with "whiskers" that hang down as long as 70 cm. The bat flower is a shade plant that turns any damp corner of the garden into a conversation piece. It comes from the forests of southern Asia, where it's also eaten.
Culture
- Habit
- Perennial
- Height
- 0.50 m
- Cultivation Status
- Wild
A shade plant: it does best under trees, out of direct sun and wind. It wants loose soil rich in organic matter, well drained, and constant moisture in the air and soil without waterlogging. It also does well in a large pot. It takes 2–3 years to flower strongly.
Edible Uses
In Thailand the tender leaves and the flower heads are cooked in curries. The rhizome, however, is not eaten.
Medicinal
In traditional Vietnamese medicine, the rhizome steeped in alcohol is used only externally, as a liniment for rheumatism; taking it internally is prohibited. The rhizome contains diosgenin, a substance the pharmaceutical industry uses to make steroid medicines.
Traditional uses for information only. Not a substitute for advice from a health professional.
Agroforestry
In the catalog for its beauty, not for a role in an agroforestry system. It does provide food wherever it is planted.