Shields

Elephant ear — monsoon aroid on a corm — The growing half of the year: a new blade unrolls every two to four weeks in real warmth, each on its own stalk, each a little larger. The plant holds a fixed hand of leaves — so an old one yellowing off as a new one opens is the trade, not a symptom. On humid mornings the leaf tips bead water (guttation: root pressure pushing sap out through hydathodes while the stomata are shut) — the plant telling you the soil is fuller than the air is thirsty.