Colocasia esculenta
Poisonous plant
Common names
Taro
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Monocots
Flower colours
Orange
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).
Habitat
Widely cultivated in many different forms.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Araceae
Ecology
Year naturalised
1867
Origin
Wild in S.E. Asia; cultivated throughout the Pacific.
Reason for introduction
Unknown
Life cycle and dispersal
Plants rarely fruit, most reproduction is vegetative from fragments. Seed is rarely produced.
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).
Other information
Poisonous plant
All parts of the plant are poisonous. The roots and leaves may be eaten after cooking.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
COLESC