Family: Dioscoreaceae
Scientific name: Tacca chantrieri
Common name: Bat flower
Origin: Southeast Asia

The bat flower is a peculiar plant, due to the almost black flowers, which is not often seen in nature. The 30 cm large flowers, growing on stems up to 70 cm, resemble bats. That is how the bat flower got its name. The bat flower is a plant from the tropical areas of Southeast Asia and is used to a moist and shaded growing spot. This makes it an suitable houseplant, but it is advised to regularly spray the plant with water to mimic the high humidity in the rainforest.

Sowing description: Soak the seeds in luke warm water for 24 hours and afterwards sow in sowing mix at a temperature of 25-28 degrees Celsius. This temperature can be reached by placing the pot on the heater, make sure to remove the germinated plants for the heater, since the humidity on top of an heater is low. Keep the soil constantly moist. Germination can take up to several months.

Sowing time: Whole year
Difficulty: Intermediate
Minimum temperature: 15 degrees Celsius

Photo 1: Charles Strebor via Flickr
Photo 2: Anneli Salo (CCA-3.0 Wikipedia)