White Bat Plant

How many times did you glance at the white bat plant?

  • White bat plants are a species of relatively large flowering plants, notable for their blooms that have a particularly strange appearance.
  • ‘White bat plants’ are also known as ‘giant bat plants’, ‘giant batflowers’, ‘purple batflowers’, ‘white batflowers’ and ‘cat whiskers plants’.
  • The scientific name of the white bat plant is Tacca integrifolia and it is from the family Dioscoreaceae, the family of yams.
  • White bat plants are native to Southeast Asia, and they grow from rhizomes, in both tropical and subtropical habitats.
  • The flowers of white bat plants tend to resemble the face of a bat, featuring a purple, plum or brown main flower colour, white whisker-like appendages and large white with purple upper bracts.
White Bat Plant, Ten Random Facts, Trivia, Petal, Large, Appearance, Strange, Plant
White Bat Plant
Image courtesy of Scott Zona/Flickr
  • White bat plants grow to be roughly 60 to 122 centimetres (24 to 48 inches) in height and their whiskers can grow as long as 71 centimetres (28 inches).
  • White bat plants are perennials that tend to die off in the winter months, and they grow best in partial or full shade.
  • Typically, white bat plants are grown for ornamental purposes, however they can be hard to obtain, and also difficult to care for.
  • White bat plants usually bloom during warm months, generally in spring and summer, with up to eight flowers blooming per plant each year.
  • The normally large, glossy green leaves of white bat plants, can turn black when the temperature is too cold.
Bibliography:
Black Bat Plant & White Bat Flower Plant, 2014, Daylilies in Australia, https://www.dayliliesinaustralia.com.au/black-bat-plant-white-bat-flower-plant/
Giant Bat Plant, 2009, Paradise Distributors, http://paraplants.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63%3Atip-of-the-week&Itemid=27
Tacca integrifolia, 2016, Nurseries Online, http://www.nurseriesonline.com.au/plant-index/tropical-plants/tacca-integrifolia/
VanZile J, White Batflower – Growing Tacca Integrifolia Indoors, 2015, About Home, http://houseplants.about.com/od/More_Plant_Profiles/p/White-Batflower-Growing-Tacca-Integrifolia-Indoors.htm
White Bat Plant, 2015, Burke’s Backyard, http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/fact-sheets/in-the-garden/flowering-plants-shrubs/white-bat-plant/#.VxSTd_l96Uk

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One Response to White Bat Plant

  1. Gwenda says:

    My bat plant is very droopy as if it needs water but I am reluctant to give it water when I have read to let the roots dry out in winter. The leaves are still beautifully green and it looks healthy otherwise.
    I would be grateful for any advice please.😀

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