What Is the Spanish Vegetable Taro Root?

The Plant

• The taro plant is an herbaceous perennial that grows in tropical locations worldwide. It produces large arrow-shaped leaves on tall stems that reach 3 to 6 feet in height. The leaves may be as much as 2 feet long, a fact that has given the plant another of its common names, "elephant ear." The plant flowers by producing a modified leaf called a spathe that curls around and protects the flower cluster inside. The yellow-white spathe is the most conspicuous part of the bloom. Beneath the soil, the plant develops an edible corm that can grow to 6 inches in diameter in less than two years.

Cultivation

• Taro is a tropical plant that can overwinter in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 to 10. In cooler climates, the corm can be lifted, stored in a warm location and replanted when temperatures rise in the spring. Taro prefers organically rich soil and needs plenty of moisture through the growing season. It doesn't mind wet soil and can tolerate standing water. Varieties with colored or variegated leaves are most striking when grown in full sun, but the plant appreciates partial shade during hot weather.

Uses

• Taro has been used as a food crop for centuries in many cultures. The leaves may be eaten as greens, and the stems can be peeled, boiled and eaten. The starchy corms and is commonly prepared by boiling, baking or steaming. In Hawaii, the traditional dish poi is made with mashed taro root. All parts of the taro plant contain calcium oxalate crystals, and these crystals can cause mouth and throat irritation if the plant isn't thoroughly cooked before eating.

Link to Spain

• European explorers were relatively late to discover taro. The plant was already widely cultivated in Asia, the Mediterranean and New Zealand when it was first documented by Europeans. It became an important crop in certain European locales, including the Portuguese-controlled archipelago of Madeira and the Spanish Canary Islands. Taro likely came to the New World via these footholds, as Spanish and Portuguese explorers brought the plant to the West Indies and Cuba in the 18th century.