20/05/2026
The Co's Digital Flora of the Philippines lists ๐ผ๐ข๐ค๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐ช๐จ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ค๐ก๐๐ช๐จ as native to the Philippines. If you ask me, I'd rather regard this as a cryptogenic species. A cryptogenic plant is one whose natural distribution has already been obscured because it is spread far and wide by migrating humans. These species include those that are used as food, or have cultural, medicinal, ritualistic, and ornamental significance. In the case of ๐ผ. ๐ฅ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ค๐ก๐๐ช๐จ, the corms are edible, though nowadays are most often used as hog feed. The emerging shoots are cooked in some provinces. It is easy to carry the dormant corms into new lands by intrepid, migrating humans. I don't think anyone really knows where this species originally came from.
This is the most common ๐ผ๐ข๐ค๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐ช๐จ species in the Philippines, where it is known as 'pungapong' (along with several orthographical variants). You can find these plants in cultivated lands, sidewalks, waste places, abandoned lots, and secondary forests. Never in intact habitats like you would with the rest of the native species. It is unlikely to be confused with any other local species (the only similar species is ๐ผ๏ฝก ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐๐จ); anyone with some degree of familiarity with ๐ผ๐ข๐ค๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐ช๐จ should be able to identify this with confidence, so do away with '๐ผ๐ข๐ค๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐ช๐จ sp.' or '๐ผ๐ข๐ค๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐ช๐จ cfr. ๐ฅ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ค๐ก๐๐ช๐จ'. Just straightaway say '๐ผ๐ข๐ค๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐ช๐จ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ค๐ก๐๐ช๐จ'. This is one of two inflorescences of this species in my own backyard.
The Philippine ๐ผ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ list of the CDFP here:
https://www.philippineplants.org/Families/Araceae.html
