Alocasia Odora 'Azurea' Zone 9-10
This is Alocasia Odora 'Azurea' often named as Alocasia Gigantea or Blue Odora. It came from Yunnan, China many years ago. It tends to be a slow grower and doesn't produce many offsets "pups". But if you keep the growing conditions correct you will be reworded with a show stopping Elephant Ear. If you look closely at the stems of this plant you will notice a blue or purple color. This tends to fade if planted in full sun. The trade off if planted in full sun is a much larger plant at the end of the growing season.
Azurea is one of the parents used to create a new hybrid that has not yet hit the market. This hybrid is given the name of Blue Portora. Similar to the Portora out on the market now with the exception of the type of Odora that was used. The standard Portora or Green Portora uses the regular Odora and Portei. This cross was preformed by Aroidia Research out of Homestead, Fl.
Aroidia Research has also tested the waters in a cross between Odora 'Azurea' and the standard Odora. This cross was successful and their hope is to create an "improved Blue Odora". One that has a faster growth rate and larger leaf size than the original Blue Odora.
See Example below: