Colocasia esculenta

Colocasia esculenta, Taro, is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world, grown for its starchy corm as a staple food crop across the tropics for thousands of years. As an ornamental it is grown for its immense, heart-shaped, softly matte leaves on tall upright petioles, forming a large architectural clump in the garden or as a houseplant. The plain species is solid green; named colour selections bred from it, most famously the near-black 'Black Magic', have made Colocasia a popular subject for foliage colour breeding, distinct from the closely related but visually different Alocasia genus.

Native range

Tropical Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent; cultivated worldwide as a food crop for millennia

Classification

Genus

Colocasia

Family

Araceae

Type

Wild

Growth habit

Upright clumping, tuberous

Morphology

Leaf shape

Large peltate heart-shape

Leaf length

30-60 cm

Leaf width

25-50 cm

Petiole colour

Thick, green, attached centrally to the leaf underside (peltate)

Venation

Prominent radiating primary veins

Texture

Matte, slightly waxy, water-repellent surface

Variegation

N/A: solid mid-green leaf blade; colour selections like the near-black 'Black Magic' are bred from this species

Growth habit

Upright clumping from a central tuber/corm