Colocasia Suksathid #1

Quilted, Not Smooth, and That's the Point

Colocasia Suksathid #1 and #2 come off the same line, and the one difference that actually separates them is texture. #1's leaves carry a deep, three dimensional quilting between the veins, each segment puckered and embossed rather than lying flat, with a heavily waved margin running the whole way around the blade. #2's foliage is smoother by comparison. If you're deciding between the two numbered selections, surface texture is the trait to look at, not color, which varies leaf to leaf on both.

The Draw Beyond the Numbered Name

The near-black portions of the leaf carry a metallic sheen, the pink or green portions stay matte by comparison, and depending on which leaf you're looking at, that split can run clean down the midrib or scatter into a mottled mix of dark green, burgundy, and hot pink. That variability, layered on top of the quilted texture above, means no two leaves on the plant look quite alike, which is exactly what keeps collectors watching a plant like this rather than a single fixed pattern.

An Unverified Name, a Verified Genus

"Suksathid" isn't a name that turns up in botanical literature or recognized cultivar registries. It reads as a grower or nursery name attached locally within Thailand's collector trade, the same way many numbered Colocasia selections in this catalog are, and there's no documented breeding history to point to beyond that. What is verified: this is a cultivar of Colocasia esculenta, the same species grown across Southeast Asia as taro and worldwide as an ornamental elephant ear, in the arum family Araceae alongside Alocasia and Philodendron. Its size, leaf shape, and vigorous clumping growth habit all track with the species; the color and texture are what a selection like this is chosen for.

What Keeps the Ripple Sharp

Give it bright, indirect light. Colocasia in general holds its color and texture better with strong light exposure; too little and leaves tend to flatten out and lose some of that dimensional quilting over time. Keep the soil consistently moist, never fully dry, and expect vigorous growth in warm, humid conditions during the growing season. It dies back in cooler weather and regrows from the bulb the following season, which is normal for the genus, not a sign of a struggling plant.

How This One Ships

Ships as a fresh cutting with bulb and petiole, about 20 to 30cm, the bulb wrapped in moist sphagnum moss for the trip. It reestablishes and produces new leaves from the bulb after planting rather than arriving already leafed out, so the first leaf you see from it will be its own expression of the pattern described above.