Taxon: Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott

• the 207 historical accession(s) associated with this name.
• Check PlantSearch database of Botanic Gardens Conservation International for possible non-NPGS germplasm.

A declared aquatic or terrestrial noxious weed and/or noxious-weed seed in these U.S. states (see state noxious weed lists), with links to state information or web documents:

PRª.

ªAquatic.

*Terrestrial.

°In seed.

Link to noxious weed information from

Common names:

• cocoyam   (Source: World Econ Pl ) – English
  
• dasheen   (Source: World Econ Pl ) – English
  
• eddo   (Source: Websters Dict ) – English
  
• elephant's-ear   (Source: Hortus 3 ) – English
  
• taro   (Source: World Econ Pl ) – English
  
• colocasie   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – French
  
• Taro   (Source: Zander Ency ) – German
  
• Zehrwurzel   (Source: Zander Ency ) – German
  
• arum   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – India
  
• toran   (Source: Kulturpflanze 34:92.) – Transcribed Korean
  
• daun keladi   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Malay
  
• inhame   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• inhame-branco   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• inhame-da-África   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• inhame-da-costa   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• taioba-de-São-Tomé   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)
  
• madumbe   (Source: J SAfr Soc Hort Sci ) – South Africa (Zulu)
  
• alcocaz   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
  
• colocasia   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
  
• malanga   (Source: F LAnt ) – Spanish
  
• tayoba   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish
  
• taro   (Source: Vara kulturvaxt namn ) – Swedish
  

More:

see MMPND for additional names in foreign scripts

Economic importance:

• Environmental: agroforestry   (fide Econ Bot 55:14-31. 2001)
  
• Environmental: ornamental   (fide Zander ed13; Eur Gard F; Invasive Pl Spec)
  
• Human food: starch   (fide Econ Bot 55:14-31. 2001; Invasive Pl Spec)
  
• Human food: vegetable   (fide F LAnt; Invasive Pl Spec)
  
• Animal food: potential as fodder   (fide J. South African Soc. Hort. Sci. 7(2):42. 1997)
  
• Medicines: folklore   (fide Herbs Commerce ed2)
  
• Vertebrate poisons: mammals   (fide Lampe & McCann; Kellerman et al., as C. antiquorum; Kingsbury)
  
• Weed   (fide Invasive Pl Spec)
  

More:

View toxicology references for Colocasia esculenta from FDA Poisonous Plant Database

View phytochemical or ethnobotanical data from Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases

Distributional range:

• AFRICA
  Macaronesia: Cape Verde; Portugal - Azores, Madeira Islands; Spain - Canary Islands
  Northern Africa: Algeria; Libya; Morocco
• AUSTRALASIA
  New Zealand: New Zealand
• EUROPE
  Europe [s.]
• NORTHERN AMERICA
  United States [s.e.]
• SOUTHERN AMERICA
  Caribbean: West Indies

• widely cultivated in tropics

• probable origin tropical Asia

References:

• PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
• Aldén, B., S. Ryman & M. Hjertson. 2009. Våra kulturväxters namn - ursprung och användning. Formas, Stockholm (Handbook on Swedish cultivated and utility plants, their names and origin).
• Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques & South African National Biodiversity Institute. African flowering plants database (on-line resource).
• Cufodontis, G. 1953–1972. Enumeratio plantarum aethiopiae: Spermatophyta.
• Erhardt, W. et al. 2008. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen.
• FNA Editorial Committee. 1993–. Flora of North America.
• Flach, M. & F. Rumawas, eds. 1996. Plants yielding non-seed carbohydrates. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). 9:69–72.
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
• Govaerts, R. & D. G. Frodin. 2002. World checklist and bibliography of Araceae (and Acoraceae).
• Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. [re. Brazilian common names].
• Hill, A. F. 1939. The correct names of certain economic plants. Bot. Mus. Leafl. 7:113–118.
• Howard, R. 1974–1989. Flora of the lesser Antilles.
• Joubert, F. J. 1997. Taro (Colocasia esculenta), an under exploited tuber crop in South Africa. J. S. African Soc. Hort. Sci. 7(2):39–43.
• Keay, R. W. J. & F. N. Hepper. 1953–1972. Flora of west tropical Africa, ed. 2.
• Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. [poisonous].
• Lampe, K. F. & M. A. McCann. 1985. AMA handbook of poisonous and injurious plants. [poisonous].
• Lazarides, M. & B. Hince. 1993. CSIRO Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia.
• Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third.
• Liogier, H. A. & L. F. Martorell. 1982. Flora of Puerto Rico and adjacent islands: a systematic synopsis.
• Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2.
• McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2.
• Mun-Chan, B. et al. 1986. A checklist of the Korean cultivated plants. Kulturpflanze 34:92.
• Nicolson, D. H. 1987. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. 6:54–55.
• Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
• Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants.
• The Missouri Botanical Garden with others. A Catalogue of the vascular plants of Madagascar (on-line resource).
• Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964–1980. Flora europaea.
• Walker, E. 1976. Flora of Okinawa and the southern Ryukyu Islands.
• Walters, S. M. et al., eds. 1986–. European garden flora.
• Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds.
• Westphal, E. & P. C. M. Jansen, eds. 1989. A selection. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). A:102.
• Xu, J. C. et al. 2001. Genetic diversity in taro (Colocasia esculenta Schott, Araceae) in China: An ethnobotanical and genetic approach. Econ. Bot. 55:14–31.
• Webster's third new international dictionary.

More:

Search AGRICOLA article citation database for citations referencing Colocasia esculenta.

Search NCBI's Entrez search engine for PubMed citations referencing Colocasia esculenta.

Search Biodiversity Heritage Library for historical publications referencing Colocasia esculenta.

Synonyms:

• (≡) Arum esculentum L. (basionym)
  
• (≡) Caladium esculentum (L.) Vent.
  (previously associated with 5 accessions)
• (=) Colocasia antiquorum Schott
  (previously associated with 37 accessions)
• (≡) Colocasia antiquorum var. esculenta (L.) Schott
  (previously associated with 10 accessions)
• (=) Colocasia antiquorum var. euchlora (K. Koch & Sello) Schott ex Engl.
  

Check other web resources for Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott:

• Flora Europaea: Database of European Plants (ESFEDS)
• Flora of North America: Collaborative Floristic Effort of North American Botanists
• PLANTS: USDA-NRCS Database of Plants of the United States and its Territories
• BONAP: North American Plant Atlas of the Biota of North America Program
• TROPICOS: Nomenclatural and Specimen Database of the Missouri Botanical Garden
• Mansfeld: Mansfeld's World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops
• PROTABASE: Plant Resources of Tropical Africa's (PROTA's) online resource
• ICRA: International Cultivar Registration Authority (on-line resource). for Colocasia esculenta cultivars
• ePIC: Electronic Plant Information Centre of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• AGRICOLA: Article Citation Database or NAL Catalog of USDA's National Agricultural Library
• Entrez: NCBI's search engine for PubMed citations, GenBank sequences, etc.

Images:

• Forestry Images: from www.forestryimages.org
• Seed: U.S. National Seed Herbarium image

More:

• Check PlantSystematics.org for additional images
• Images Note: Be advised that their identity may be inaccurate. Proper identification of a plant may require specialized taxonomic knowledge or comparison with properly documented herbarium material.

Abbreviations & symbols in GRIN Taxonomy

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