Alocasia Azlanii Albo Pink Variegated: The Complete Collector's Guide

The Alocasia azlanii Albo Pink Variegated is a form of Alocasia azlanii, a small Bornean aroid, that carries both white and pink sectors on the same leaf. This guide explains what the species is, what is and is not documented about this particular form, how the two kinds of variegation work, and how to look after it. We keep to what Aroidpedia and other sources support and say plainly where detail is missing.

Alocasia azlanii: origin, naming and history

Alocasia azlanii was formally described by K. M. Wong and P. C. Boyce in 2016, in the journal Acta Phytotaxonomica et Geobotanica, as part of a series titled Novitates Bruneienses. Aroidpedia records that the type material was collected in 2015 in Brunei, in the Tutong District, within the catchment of the Benutan Dam in the Ladan Hills Forest Reserve. The holotype is held at the Brunei herbarium (BRUN) with an isotype at Singapore (SING).

The name honours Azlan Pandai of the Brunei National Herbarium, whose field searches for aroids produced many of the finds described in that series. Aroidpedia gives the plant's habitat as well-shaded, moist ground just above flood level beside a shallow tributary of the Benutan River, in mixed dipterocarp forest on sandy clays. That is a warm, humid, lowland setting, with humidity of 80 to 90 per cent and temperatures that rarely fall below 20°C. Aroidpedia lists Borneo as the range, with Brunei the only locality it documents; it also carries an Indonesia entry with no supporting locality, so we treat Brunei's Tutong District as the established record.

The Aroidpedia entry covers the 2015 collection and the 2016 publication only. It gives no cultivation history and no account of how the plant entered collections, so we do not offer one here.

How to identify Alocasia azlanii

Aroidpedia, which reproduces the botanical description, records a small herb of 10 to 28cm with a short stem 8 to 10mm across and tightly packed internodes. The leaf blade is broadly ovate-elliptic, 16 to 20cm long by 8.5 to 11cm wide, thinly leathery, with a dark coppery purplish-green upper surface and a pale green underside. The two posterior lobes together measure 5 to 7cm, and the petiole is pale green and smooth.

The describers separated the species from two similar small, shield-leaved aroids, A. beccarii and A. peltata, mainly by its conspicuous marginal and intramarginal veins. It also grows in mixed dipterocarp forest, whereas those two are recorded from kerangas forest. Collectors commonly describe the foliage as metallic or iridescent with strongly coloured veins; that is a horticultural impression rather than something the botanical description states, and it is best judged on the plant itself. Even before variegation enters the picture, the standard form carries more colour than most Alocasia manage: its metallic sheen is iridescent, green, copper and violet trading places as light and viewing angle shift, and the venation is a deep magenta, bold and prominent where most other jewel Alocasia carry silver-white.

It belongs to the Cuprea Group of Alocasia, the same grouping as the celebrated Alocasia cuprea, and shares with the rest of that group a compact jewel habit and a metallic, iridescent finish to the leaf that no larger-leaved Alocasia can match. It is also one of the most recently described jewel Alocasia in collector cultivation.

The flower is a small, solitary inflorescence with a pale green to almost white spathe of about 6cm and a white appendix, followed by glossy white fruits up to 8mm across.

What is documented about the Albo Pink form

Aroidpedia has an entry for the species, Alocasia azlanii, but lists no cultivars under it. It records the species' variegation simply as white and mottled. There is therefore no cultivar-specific entry for an Albo Pink form: no named origin, no breeder, no date and no stated parentage. We do not fill that gap with speculation. What follows draws on the species entry and on the general behaviour of albo and pink variegation.

The albo and pink variegation explained

The two colours come from different mechanisms. Albo sectors are white because the cells there contain no chlorophyll at all. That tissue cannot photosynthesise, so it lives off the green tissue around it. Pink sectors are different: the colour comes from anthocyanin pigment, and the tissue still functions. Both patterns are chimeric, meaning they depend on distinct cell layers or lineages sitting side by side in the same plant, and chimeras are unstable. A new leaf can show more white, more pink, less of either, or revert to plain green, and the pattern is not guaranteed to carry over to a plant grown from a corm. The albo sectors arise from a chimeric plastid genome mutation causing chlorophyll absence in specific cell lineages, and neither pattern is predictable between leaves or can be reliably transmitted through seed.

This is a collector specimen of exceptional rarity and visual complexity. The result is a leaf where white, pink and the species' metallic green-copper-violet base colouration coexist within a single blade, the deep magenta primary veins providing a structural grid that ties the composition together. This is variegated Alocasia at its most compositionally complex, on a species whose standard form is already one of the most visually extraordinary in the genus. On Alocasia azlanii these two variegation types interact with the species' already multi-coloured base in ways that no other Alocasia can replicate. The pink sectors create a warm tone that resonates with and amplifies the deep magenta venation, so the pink variegation and the pink-magenta veins read as related elements rather than disconnected ones, creating a visual coherence within what could otherwise be a confusingly busy composition. The iridescence of the foliage continues to operate beneath and within the variegated sectors, so that even white sectors on this species carry a different visual quality from white sectors on a matte-surfaced Alocasia.

In practice, a plant with white sectors needs steady, bright indirect light so that the green tissue can support the leaf, and large white areas on a leaf can scorch or brown at the edges if light is harsh or humidity drops. Pink sectors tend to look their best in good light too. Judge any individual plant by its current leaves, not by a photograph of another one. Our complete guide to Alocasia variegation types, our albo variegation guide and our post on pink variegation go deeper into each.

You can browse related plants in our albo variegated and pink variegated collections.

Alocasia azlanii care

This is general Alocasia care, and it applies to this plant. The conditions Aroidpedia records for the wild habitat, warm, humid and well shaded, point to the same approach we use for the whole genus.

Give bright indirect light, supplemented with LED grow lights where a room is dim. LED grow lighting is strongly recommended at 10,000 to 15,000 lux for 12 to 14 hours per day. Aim for 20 to 27°C and humidity of 60 to 80 per cent, and keep the plant out of cold draughts, with a 15°C minimum. Water thoroughly once the top 2 to 3cm of substrate has dried, and let excess drain away. Fluval Stratum is our preferred substrate, as it holds moisture while staying open and free-draining. If the room runs cool, a heat mat under the pot keeps the roots comfortable. Feed from our Alocasia feed at half strength; the plant feed range has what you need. Conservative feeding suits it best, at quarter to half strength every 2 to 3 weeks.

The plant is small, so it suits a shelf or an enclosed cabinet where temperature and humidity are easy to hold steady and the foliage can be seen at close range. Its compact scale also makes it well suited to terrarium cultivation, where temperature and humidity can be tightly controlled and the iridescent surface and variegation can be viewed at close range. Our complete Alocasia care guide goes through the fundamentals in more detail, and our root rot guide is worth reading if leaves yellow or growth stalls.

Propagating Alocasia azlanii from corms

Alocasia produce small corms that can be grown on. Our Alocasia corm propagation guide sets out the self-wicking method step by step: the corm sits in Fluval Stratum inside our Corm Keeper, which draws moisture up evenly without leaving the corm waterlogged. Our posts on growing corms in Fluval Stratum and how long a corm takes to sprout cover what to expect.

How Alocasia azlanii compares to similar plants

Aroidpedia lists three named hybrids with A. azlanii as a parent: 'Andromeda' and 'Green Unicorn', both recorded as A. azlanii × A. baginda 'Dragon Scale', and 'Java Miracle', recorded as A. azlanii × A. melo. Our own Alocasia Green Unicorn guide covers one of them. Our other azlanii guides, the Albo Pink, Mint and Mutation forms, show how the same species varies.

Where to find it

We release Albo Pink azlanii through our drop model. Join the collector list for early access, and see the Alocasia Azlanii Albo Pink Variegated listing for the plant itself.

Frequently asked questions

What is Alocasia azlanii Albo Pink Variegated?

It is a variegated form of the species Alocasia azlanii showing both white (albo) and pink sectors. Aroidpedia has no cultivar entry for it, so its specific history is not documented.

Where does Alocasia azlanii come from?

Aroidpedia records the type collection from Brunei, in the Tutong District of Borneo. It was described in 2016 by K. M. Wong and P. C. Boyce.

How big does it get?

The species is recorded at 10 to 28cm tall, with leaf blades 16 to 20cm long and 8.5 to 11cm wide.

Will the variegation stay the same?

Not reliably. Both albo and pink variegation are chimeric and unstable, so patterns shift between leaves and can fail to carry over to corm-grown plants.

Is Alocasia azlanii a hybrid?

No. It is a described species. Aroidpedia lists hybrids made from it, such as 'Andromeda', 'Green Unicorn' and 'Java Miracle'.

Questions about the Albo Pink azlanii? Contact our team for guidance from specialists who grow rare Alocasia in our UK-based private nursery. We are happy to help with identification, variegation or care.