User:Buginarug11/Tacca Chantrieri

Tacca chantrieri is a species of flowering plant in the yam family Dioscoreaceae. It is commonly known as the black bat flower due to its shape and coloring of the flower. T.chantrieri is native to southeastern regions of Asia. The bat flower has peculiar pollination method in that it is almost always autonomous self pollinating. T.chantreri prefers environments similar to its native region with warm, moist conditions. The bat flower has been commonly used in Chinese medicine. It uses are wide in range from common aliments to more complex conditions such as cancer.

Description
There are ten species in the genus Tacca. Tacca chantrieri is an unusual plant in that it has black flowers. These flowers are up to 12 inches across, and have long whiskers that can grow up to 28 inches. T. chantrieri can range anywhere from 50–100 cm tall. It's color and shape remind many of a bat, hence its common name the bat flower. This is because T.chantrieri has bracts that look like wings and are large in area. The bracteoles look like long whiskers hanging from the bat.

Tacca species have been thought to be pollinated by flies seeking decaying organic material. This hypothesis was tested for T. chantrieri, but the populations studied were found to be essentially self-pollinating. This is because bug visitation was infrequent and the pollen bundles on the stigmas indicated self-pollination which occurs prior to flower opening.

Geographical Range
T.chantrieri is a species that prefers the tropics of South-East Asia. It is widespread in this region spanning from Thailand, Southern China, and Indonesia. It covers the most geographical range of area in it's genus. Its range has been lessened due to harmful overexploitation, habitat destruction, and forest fragmentation.

Pollination
T. chantrieri's colors range from dark brown, purple, and even green. These colors under ordinary circumstances attract attention for insects and animals that cater towards decaying matter; however that is not the case with T.chantrieri. The flies enter through the opening in the flower which they can crawl inside thinking that there is decaying matter in the center of the flower. The light serves as a guide for the flies through the tunnel of the flower. However, because Tacca flowers have nothing to offer to the visitors such as nectar or food, they soon try to leave the flower. The structure of the flowers makes this near impossible for the flies. This is because the pollination organs are built with "helmet-like stamens" so that the insects cannot leave the flowers without effort in effecting T.chantrieri's pollination. Plants with greater energy investments in floral structures are more attractive to pollinators and benefit from increased genetic variability due to cross-pollination. However, pollination experiments for T.chantrieri yielded results that showed despite expensive energy investments in extravagant floral displays, most seeds produced by Tacca chantrieri resulted from autonomous self-pollination. When fertilized, small black flowers develop into large black berries.

Cultivation
T. chantreri commonly flowers from April to July. Then in September to October the berries are ripe. The flowering parts of T. chantrieri should be left uncut, if cut the flower will quickly decline. T. chantreri will begin its flowering process after at least two leaves have grown. It can bloom up to 8 times in one growth season. T.chantreri has similar growing conditions to Orchids. It prefers humid conditions with strong airflow. This means that its soil should be kept moist. It can be both an in ground plant and a house plant, it does well in low to medium lighted areas. If the plant is indoors it needs to have a simulated humidity with misting regularly. The bat flower can be propagated by the rhizome, tuber division, and seed.

Uses
T. chantrieri has many medicinal properties that have been used in Chinese medicine over history. These medicinal qualities lie in T.chantreri's rhizomes or root stalks. The most common treatments being for ailments such as: high blood pressure, gastric ulcers, burns, hepatitis, and enteritis. Rhizomes in T.chantrieri contain a wide range of medicinal compounds such as saponins, which is an organic compound that when extracted can be beneficial for hypotension. The rhizomes of T.chanterieri also contain a complex compound known as diarylheptanoids. These complex compounds are extracted from the rhizome and then used for the basis of many common pharmaceuticals.