Here is a picture of the pup she gave to me.

Black Stemmed Taro

Mimi, you wouldn't happen to be in Hartsville, SC, would you? Those Colocasias look very familiar, as does the pond and the fence, like the one at ACE Hardware in Hartsville. These plants will be annuals if left outside in Zone 8b; they will die back in winter but the tubers will still be alive underground and will quickly put on new growth in spring, rapidly growing throughout the warm months until the first killing frost. I'd put a young one like this inside, though, during its first winter at least. I recently got a Colocasia at the Lowe's on David McLeod Blvd. in Florence, SC, that's supposed to be a "Black Coral", though it looks more like "Black Magic", and I plan to keep it indoors during this winter even though it's a pretty decent-sized plant in a 12-inch pot.

It is a colocasia fontanesii black stem. they can get very large. larger than the picture near the pond. I have had mine over 8 feet.

Definatly fontanenii, a great EE, u will have dozens in no time, should be totally hardy there, keep the runners cleane doff or they will take over... ;P