coco yam

Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott

A taro leaf is attached like a shield: its stalk joins the underside inside the blade rather than simply meeting the edge. The broad, arrow-shaped blade usually droops, and its waxy surface sheds water. Together with long, substantial stalks, these leaves create the familiar elephant-ear outline. Below ground, the plant forms a swollen storage stem and, in some forms, spreading stolons. Kew CATE Araceae: Colocasia esculenta

Wear coco yam: explore the botanical t-shirt

Botanical name

Kew accepts Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott in Araceae. Kew POWO: Colocasia esculenta

Recognizing the plant

Colocasia esculenta is a robust herb commonly around 0.8 to 1.8 metres tall in the cited aroid treatment. Its reproductive structure has a greenish to yellowish spathe enclosing a spadix. Tiny female flowers occupy the lower part of that spike, with male flowers above and a sterile section between them. Foliage and stalk colours vary among cultivated forms. Kew CATE Araceae: Colocasia esculenta

Bloom window

Yunnan and Qin Ling area, China

The cited Chinese regional account records flowering in February–April in Yunnan and August–September in the Qin Ling area. Kew CATE Araceae: Colocasia esculenta

Native range

Kew currently places the native range from India to southern China and Sumatra. Its specialist account cautions that ancient transport and cultivation obscure the original distribution; the species is now cultivated widely through the tropics. Kew POWO: Colocasia esculentaKew CATE Araceae: Colocasia esculenta