Colocasia esculenta
Poisonous plant
Common names
Taro
Family
Araceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Herbs - Monocots
Conservation status
Not applicable
Habitat
Widely cultivated in many different forms.
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
FACW: Facultative Wetland
Usually is a hydrophyte but occasionally found in uplands (non-wetlands).
Detailed description
Robust perennial to about 2 m tall in good conditions. Very large ovate-cordate leaves to 50 cm long, with the stalk attached well inside the leaf margin. Very variable, leaves and stalks can be white mottled, green, reddish or purple tinged to almost black. The flower is stout and shorter than the petioles. Plants seldom flower and fruit even more rarely.
Similar taxa
Can be distinguished from other members of the Araceae family by the shield-like leaves with the stalk attached well inside the leaf margin (peltate).
Flower colours
Orange
Year naturalised
1867
Origin
Wild in S.E. Asia; cultivated throughout the Pacific.
Reason For Introduction
Unknown
Reproduction
Plants rarely fruit, most reproduction is vegetative from fragments.
Seed
Rarely produced.
Poisonous plant:
All parts of the plant are poisonous. The roots and leaves may be eaten after cooking.