Exotic Plants on the Coast of Thailand - Tacca leontopetaloides (Seashore bat lily)
Exotic Plants on the Coast of Thailand - Tacca leontopetaloides (Seashore bat lily)
Besides Tacca integrifolia, Tacca leontopetaloides (Seashore bat lily or Polynesian arrowroot) is considered a very rare plant found growing naturally at Pulau Semakau and Pulau Pawai in Singapore but not in Thailand. So far, I found the plant on the island of Koh Yao Noi and Koh Lipeh . The plant is cultivated in the Pacific, East Asia and East Africa for the starch in its underground roots. It has unusual flowers and fruits growing in a cluster with leafy bracts and long ‘whiskers’ and it belongs to a familyof tropical plants, named Taccaceae.
Fruits - Tacca leontopetaloides (Seashore bat lily)
It is estimated that there are about 11,000 species of vascular plants of which 10,200 are flowering plants, with 2,500 tree species and 1,100 orchid species (7-10 % of which) are reportedly endemic in Thailand (WCMC, 1994; OEPP, 2000).
Tacca leontopetaloides (Seashore bat lily or Polynesian arrowroot)
