''Remusatia vivipara'' also called hitchhiker elephant ear is a perennial herb growing up to 50 cm tall in the genus ''

Remusatia ''Remusatia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. It contains 4 known species, one of which was described in 1987. This species was initially placed in genus ''Gonatanthus'' called ''Gonatanthus ornatus''. After the genus had be ...

''. It is widespread throughout the world, growing in temperate climates.

Description

''Remusatia vivipara'' is a rupicolous or

epiphytic An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

herb that grows up to 50 cm tall, arising from an underground tuber around 2–4 cm in diameter and coloured vivid red. Its

bulb In botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

ils are scaly and ovoid, around 5 mm long, scales ending in hooked prickles. The leaf is solitary, is broad and

peltate The following terms are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade ...

, 10–40 cm long and 5–30 cm across, with a petiole up to 40 cm long. ''R.vivipara'' very rarely flowers.

Spathe In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...

is leathery, 10–13 cm long with an ovoid tube which is green. Spadix is around 3.5 cm long, clavate and creamy white with the flowers unisexual and congested, female at base, male at tip, separated by sterile flowers in the middle. Fruits a cluster of berries.

Distribution and habitat

''Remusatia vivipara'' can be found in Central and

Western Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ma ...

, from

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

;

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

and

Northern Australia The unofficial geographic term Northern Australia includes those parts of Queensland and Western Australia north of latitude 26th parallel south, 26° and all of the Northern Territory. Those local government areas of Western Australia and Q ...

. ''Remusatia vivipara''is can be found in subtropical forests, on rocks, cliff edges around 700m-1900m above sea level. It is epiphytic in leaf litter traps on large trees such as '' Ficus vasta''. It rarely flowers in Asia, whilst in Africa it never flowers and there are no observations of ''Remusatia vivipara'' flowering in

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

. However, the small bulbils that appear on the plant are readily detached and can be carried hundreds of kilometres by clinging to the feathers of birds. This accounts for the wide distribution of the species.

Uses

Tubers are edible when cooked very thoroughly either by roasting or boiling to deactivate the oxalate crystals. They are eaten in

Dhofar The Dhofar Governorate () is the largest of the 11 governorates in the Sultanate of Oman in terms of area. It lies in southern Oman, on the eastern border with Yemen's Al Mahrah Governorate and the southern border with Saudi Arabia's Easter ...

with clarified butter or buttermilk and eaten in India added to curries.

Description

Distribution and habitat

Uses

References

Further reading