The Amazing Bat Plant: Tacca chantrieri's Exotic Blooms

The "bat plant" (Tacca chantrieri, also T. integrifolia) is a tropical understory perennial known for its bizarre, bat-like inflorescences: deep purple-black bracts up to 12 inches across, long whisker-like filaments, and true flowers clustered at the center. Native to Southeast Asia, it requires warm, humid, shaded conditions and well-drained, rich soil. In Georgia, it must be grown as a container plant brought indoors for winter. The blooms appear in late summer to fall. While not a true "bat attractor," its dramatic form makes it a conversation piece for collectors of unusual plants.

bat plant