Global InformationLeucocasia information
| Leucocasia | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Alismatales |
| Family: | Araceae |
| Subfamily: | Aroideae |
| Tribe: | Colocasieae |
| Genus: | Leucocasia Schott (1857) |
| Species: | L. gigantea
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| Binomial name | |
| Leucocasia gigantea (Blume) Schott (1857)
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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Leucocasia gigantea, also called the giant elephant ear or Indian taro, is a species of flowering plant. It is a 1.5–3 m tall aroid plant with a large, fibrous corm, producing at its apex a whorl of thick, green leaves.[2] It is the sole species in genus Leucocasia.[1]
In addition to its value as a starchy root vegetable—known by many names, such as taro, or arbi (in Hindi)—the plant’s leaf stalk (petiole) is also used as a vegetable in some areas of Southeastern Asia and Japan.
Leucocasia gigantea is a "sister species" to another widely-cultivated 'taro', Colocasia esculenta, as well as to the alocasias, such as the large Alocasia macrorrhizos; it is speculated that L. gigantea was created as a result of natural hybridization between A. macrorrhizos and C. esculenta.[3]
Known as dọc mùng[4][5][6] in Vietnam (bạc hà in some provinces in southern Vietnam), it is often used in canh chua and bún.
In Japanese, it is commonly called ハス芋 (hasu-imo),[7] or "lotus yam". It is known as ryukyu in Kōchi Prefecture, as it is found in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It is sometimes used as an ingredient in miso soup, chanpurū and sushi. The Japanese term zuiki refers to the petiole sections of both L. gigantea and Colocasia esculenta. Higo-zuiki, made of a dried stalk and produced solely in Kumamoto Prefecture (or Higo Province), is a (mainly female) sex toy with a history of use going back hundreds of years; as an aroid (arum) plant, Leucocasia contain various alkaloids, chemicals, oxalates and saponin, the latter being said to stimulate sexual experience.[citation needed]
In Thailand, Leucocasia gigantea is known as ก้านทูน (kan thun), คูน (khun), ออดิบ (o dip), ออกดิบ (ok dip), ตูน (thoon), among other names.
- ^ a b Leucocasia gigantea (Blume) Schott. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ Anton Ivancic et al. Thermogenesis and flowering biology of Colocasia gigantea, Araceae Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine J Plant Res (2008) 121:73–82.
- ^ "The global diversity of Taro: ethnobotany and conservation" (PDF). Retrieved 30 December 2021.
- ^ Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hue 'Taro diversity and use in Vietnam'. Ethnobotany and genetic diversity of Asian taro: focus on China
- ^ Loài Dọc mùng[permanent dead link] Tri thức việt - Vietgle.
- ^ MATSUDA M and NAWATA E "Taro in Northern Vietnam : Its Uses, Cultivation, and Genetic Variation" Japanese Journal of Tropical Agriculture, VOL.46;NO.4;PAGE.247-258(2002)
- ^ Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hue 'Taro diversity and use in Vietnam' Ethnobotany and genetic diversity of Asian taro: focus on China