Giant Taro
Giant Taro
Scientific name: Alocasia macrorrhizs (L.)G. Don
Local name: ‘Mankachu’, ‘Fancachu’
Taxonomic position According to Cronquist (1981)
| Kingdom | Plantae |
| Division | Magnoliophyta |
| Class | Liliopsida |
| Subclass | Arecidae |
| Order | Arales |
| Family | Araceae |
| Genus | Alocasia |
| Species | A. macrorrhizs |
Botanical Description of Giant Taro
Habit: Very robust evergreen herb.
Root: Adventitious root system, shallow and fleshy.
Stem: caulescent 15-18 cm thick .
Leaf: Simple, alternate, composed of leaf sheath and leaf blade. The blade is big heart-shaped. The petiole is long.
Inflorescence: Spadix with bract, spathe
Flower: Three types of flower namely male, female and neuter flowers are present.
Fruit: Berry
Chromosome number: 2n=28
Economic Importance: widely used as vegetable, almost every plant parts like leaf blade, petiole, rhizome, stole etc. are used as vegetable.