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

The white bat flower produces peculiar white-purple flowers, in contrast to the black flowers on the normal bat flower. The species originates from the tropical forests of Southeast Asia, where it grows in moist and shades places. It can be grown well as an indoor plant, but the plant should be sprayed with water regularly to mimic the high humidity of the rainforest. The leaves can grow quite large and the plant will reach an height to maximum 1 meter.

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. Germination can take up to several months.

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

Photo 1: Kyle Wicomb via Flickr