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prettygoodwordtaro (TAHR-oh, TAIR-oh) - n., a widely cultivated tropical Asian plant (Colocasia esculenta) with large arrow-shaped leaves and edible starchy corms; any of several related plants (genera Colocasia, Alocasia, Xanthosoma, etc.) cultivated for their corms or as ornamentals; the starchy corm from these plants, food made from the corms.
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When grown as ornamentals, taro plants are often called elephant ears, for some indeed have very large leaves. This was mentioned in the entry on potatoes, but just to reiterate, taros aren’t related to either potatoes (which are nightshades) or sweet potatoes (which are morning glories), and instead are arums. Convergent evolution in action. Colocasia esculenta is native to southeast Asia and was probably domesticated in Malaysia. It was one of the staple crops Polynesians carried wherever they settled, and it’s even called taro in several languages (others have sound changes), but we got the name specifically from Maori via Captain Cook’s account of his voyages, where he first describes it as a Maori crop.
---L.
Thanks, WikiMedia!
When grown as ornamentals, taro plants are often called elephant ears, for some indeed have very large leaves. This was mentioned in the entry on potatoes, but just to reiterate, taros aren’t related to either potatoes (which are nightshades) or sweet potatoes (which are morning glories), and instead are arums. Convergent evolution in action. Colocasia esculenta is native to southeast Asia and was probably domesticated in Malaysia. It was one of the staple crops Polynesians carried wherever they settled, and it’s even called taro in several languages (others have sound changes), but we got the name specifically from Maori via Captain Cook’s account of his voyages, where he first describes it as a Maori crop.
---L.
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