The Makiling Botanic Gardens (MBG) Plant of the Month (POM) for June 2022 is the Gabing tigre, scientifically known as Alocasia zebrina C. Koch.&Veitch. is from the family Araceae and is endemic to the Philippines.
Gabing tigre’s leaf usually has many leaves with arrow-like shaped (sagittate). Petioles are long and pale green, streaked with darker green to brown stripes with bract-like modified leaves that protects new emerging leaves on its basal area also called cataphylls. Its flowers are a white spadix (includes fleshy spike & clusters of unisexual, apetalous (no petals) flowers) type of inflorescence with a greenish long-peduncled spathe while its fruit is a berry, green when young and turns red as it matures.
Did you know?
That harvesting wild Gabing tigre is illegal in the Philippines and is punishable with 6 to 10 years imprisonment and P100K to P1M fine?
To know more about this plant, watch this video:
By: AALimpiada and ACMalayba