Taro

A perennial herb grown as an annual for its corms. The underground corm varies widely in shape and size. The leaves arise from the corm, up to 40×25 cm, dark green above and pale green beneath; the blade is triangular-ovate, shield-shaped with a deep basal sinus and a pointed tip, on petioles 0.8–1.2 m high. The inflorescence consists of a spathe and a spadix with unisexual flowers, female below and male above. The corm is rich in starch but also contains calcium oxalate crystals that cause itching; it must be thoroughly cooked (or soaked/fermented) before eating. Cultivars of taro, dasheen and eddoe differ in corm size and flavour.

Taro is considered one of humanity's earliest crops, originating in Southeast or South Asia and spread widely by Austronesian migrations across Oceania — the word 'taro' comes from the Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *talos, via Māori, when Captain Cook observed Colocasia gardens in New Zealand in 1769. Taro corms are a staple in African, Caribbean, Oceanian, East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian cultures. In Vietnam, taro is widely grown in the Red River Delta, the Mekong Delta and the Central Highlands; it is cooked into soups (taro stewed with pork bones), sweet taro congee, steamed dishes, and increasingly into taro ice cream and taro flour for cakes.