Giant Elephant Ear
Giant Elephant Ear
Scientific name: Colocasia gigantea (Blume) Hock
Local name: ‘Saladkachu’
Taxonomic position According to Cronquist (1981)
| Kingdom | Plantae |
| Division | Magnoliophyta |
| Class | Liliopsida |
| Subclass | Arecidae |
| Order | Arales |
| Family | Araceae |
| Genus | Colocasia |
| Species | C. gigantea |
Botanical Description of Giant Elephant Ear
Habit: Perennial evergreen herb with a stout above-ground stem.
Root: Adventitious root system, shallow and fleshy.
Stem: Modified into rhizome.
Leaf: Simple, several together, petiole light green, leaf blade ovate to cordate.
Inflorescence: Spadix with bract, spathe. Spadix sessile, shorter than spathe.
Flower: Three types of flower namely male, female and neuter flowers are present.
Fruit: Berry
Chromosome number: 2n=28, 42
Economic Importance: widely used as vegetable, almost every plant parts like leaf blade, petiole, rhizome, stole etc. are used as vegetable. The petiole and blade are rich in iron.