View source for Colocasia ← Colocasia You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reason: The action you have requested is limited to users in the group: Users. You can view and copy the source of this page. {{Treatment/ID |accepted_name=Colocasia |accepted_authority=Schott in H. W. Schott and S. L. Endlicher |publications={{Treatment/Publication |title=in H. W. Schott and S. L. Endlicher,Meletemata Botanica |place=18. 1832 |year=1832 }} |common_names=Taro;dasheen |basionyms= |synonyms= |hierarchy=Araceae;Colocasia |hierarchy_nav=<div class="higher-taxa"><div class="higher-taxon"><small>family</small>[[Araceae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>genus</small>[[Colocasia]]</div></div> |etymology=classical Greek name derived from an old Middle Eastern name colcas or culcas |volume=Volume 22 |mention_page= |treatment_page= }}<!-- --><span class="statement" id="st-d0_s0" data-properties="whole_organism growth form"><b>Herbs,</b> wetland [or terrestrial].</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s1" data-properties=""><b>Stolons </b>with nodes produced at or near surface;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s2" data-properties="corm location;corm architecture">corms underground [aboveground], tuberous.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s3" data-properties="leaf quantity;leaf arrangement or growth form;leaf orientation"><b>Leaves </b>appearing before flowers, several, clustered apically, erect;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s4" data-properties="petiole length or size">petiole usually longer than blade;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s5" data-properties="blade coloration;blade architecture;blade architecture;blade shape;blade shape;basal lobe shape;apex shape">blade green to dark green or glaucous blue-green adaxially, simple, peltate, ovate or sagittate-cordate, basal lobes rounded, apex mucronate;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s6" data-properties="primary lateral-vein arrangement;secondary lateral-vein architecture or coloration or relief">primary lateral-veins parallel, secondary lateral-veins netted.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s7" data-properties="peduncle orientation;peduncle height or length or size;apex shape"><b>Inflorescences:</b> peduncle erect, shorter than leaves, apex not swollen;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s8" data-properties="spathe tube coloration">spathe tube green;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s9" data-properties="spathe blade coloration;spathe blade orientation;spadix life cycle">spathe blade orange, opening basally and reflexing apically at anthesis to expose spadix;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s10" data-properties="spadix size;spadix shape;appendage reproduction">spadix slender, tapering, usually terminated by sterile appendage.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s11" data-properties="flower reproduction;flower architecture;flower architecture"><b>Flowers </b>unisexual, staminate and pistillate on same plant;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s12" data-properties="spadix flower architecture;flower architecture;flower position;between flowers flower reproduction;flower architecture;flower architecture">pistillate flowers covering base of spadix, staminate flowers apical, sterile flowers between pistillate and staminate flowers;</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s13" data-properties="perianth presence">perianth absent.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s14" data-properties="fruit coloration"><b>Fruits </b>greenish to whitish or red.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s15" data-properties="seed atypical quantity;seed quantity"><b>Seeds </b>0–5 (–35), mucilage probably present.</span> <span class="statement" id="st-d0_s16" data-properties="mucilage presence;x chromosome quantity">x = 7.</span><!-- -->{{Treatment/Body |distribution=Southeastern Asia;1 species cultivated and escaping in the tropics and subtropics worldwide |discussion=<p>Species in the genus Colocasia have received little attention except for C. esculenta, commonly called taro, which is cultivated throughout the tropics and subtropics for its starchy, edible corms. The origin of the cultivated species is uncertain, but all other species in the genus occur in northeastern India and southeastern Asia. Prior to modernization, taro was especially important on the Pacific Islands. Hawaii was a main center of taro cultivation, and the crop played an important role in native culture. About 150 varieties of C. esculenta were developed on Hawaii, including ones those specifically grown for poi, a fermented paste made from crushed, cooked corms (A. B. Greenwell 1947).</p><!-- --><p>Colocasia esculenta was probably brought to the Caribbean and North America from Africa as part of the slave trade. In the southeastern United States, taro was commonly cultivated in the kitchen gardens of slaves and their free descendants (W. Bartram 1791). In the early 1900s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture attempted a campaign to introduce taro as a new root crop in frost-free zones in the southern United States (O. W. Barrett and O. F. Cook 1910). Promotional literature, which included cultivation techniques and recipes for use, was distributed to encourage farmers to try this new crop, but taro was never accepted as a substitute for potatoes (R. A. Young 1936).</p><!-- --><p>Plants of Colocasia esculenta are known by many common names, including taro, cocoyam, dasheen, eddo, malanga, tannia, and others. Many of these same names are also applied to species of Xanthosoma, a New World aroid also cultivated for its starchy corms, which is often confused with Colocasia (see S. K. O’Hair and M. P. Asokan 1986 for a review of edible aroids). Edible taxa in the two genera can be readily distinguished by the peltate leaves in Colocasia and absence of a sterile tip on the spadix in Xanthosoma.</p><!-- --><p>Species 7 (1 in the flora).</p> |tables= |references={{Treatment/Reference |id=matthews1991a |text=Matthews, P. 1991. A possible tropical wildtype taro: Colocasia esculenta var. aquatilis. Bull. Indo-Pacific Prehist. Assoc. 11: 69--81. }}{{Treatment/Reference |id=wang1983a |text=Wang J.-K. and S. Higa, eds. 1983. Taro, a Review of Colocasia esculenta and Its Potentials. Honolulu. }} }}<!-- --><!-- -->{{#Taxon: name=Colocasia |authority=Schott in H. W. Schott and S. L. Endlicher |rank=genus |parent rank=family |synonyms= |basionyms= |family=Araceae |distribution=Southeastern Asia;1 species cultivated and escaping in the tropics and subtropics worldwide |reference=matthews1991a;wang1983a |publication title=in H. W. Schott and S. L. Endlicher,Meletemata Botanica |publication year=1832 |special status= |source xml=https://bibilujan@bitbucket.org/aafc-mbb/fna-fine-grained-xml.git/src/62857cf6bca5c4637d27b113da92d27dbf9962f4/V22/V22_457.xml |genus=Colocasia |apex shape=not swollen;mucronate |appendage reproduction=sterile |basal lobe shape=rounded |between flowers flower reproduction=sterile |blade architecture=peltate;simple |blade coloration=green;dark green or glaucous blue-green |blade shape=sagittate-cordate;ovate |corm architecture=tuberous |corm location=underground |flower architecture=staminate;pistillate;staminate;pistillate;staminate |flower position=apical |flower reproduction=unisexual |fruit coloration=greenish;whitish or red |leaf arrangement or growth form=clustered |leaf orientation=erect |leaf quantity=several |mucilage presence=absent |peduncle height or length or size=shorter |peduncle orientation=erect |perianth presence=absent |petiole length or size=usually longer |primary lateral-vein arrangement=parallel |secondary lateral-vein architecture or coloration or relief=netted |seed atypical quantity=5;35 |seed quantity=0;5 |spadix flower architecture=pistillate |spadix life cycle=anthesis |spadix shape=tapering |spadix size=slender |spathe blade coloration=orange |spathe blade orientation=reflexing |spathe tube coloration=green |whole_organism growth form=herb |x chromosome quantity=7 }}<!-- -->[[Category:Treatment]][[Category:Araceae]] Templates used on this page: Template:Araceae (view source) Template:Treatment/AuthorLink (view source) Template:Treatment/Body (view source) Template:Treatment/Body/Maps (view source) Template:Treatment/ID (view source) Template:Treatment/Publication (view source) Template:Treatment/Reference (view source) Return to Colocasia.