Taro (redirected from Colcasia)

taro: see arum.

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taro

Herbaceous plant (Colocasia esculenta) of the arum family, probably native to Southeast Asia and taken to the Pacific islands. It is a staple crop cultivated for its large, starchy, spherical tubers, which, though poisonous raw, become edible with heating. They are consumed as a cooked vegetable or are made into puddings, breads, or Polynesian poi (a thin, pasty, highly digestible mass of fermented taro starch). Poi is a staple food in Hawaii. The large leaves (also poisonous raw) of the taro are commonly eaten stewed.

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taro

1. an aroid plant, Colocasia esculenta, cultivated in the tropics for its large edible rootstock

2. the rootstock of this plant

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Taro 

(Colocasia esculenta), a tropical perennial plant of the family Araceae. The large tubers of taro, weighing up to 4 kg, are used as food, boiled or fried like potatoes; the young etiolated leaves are cooked like asparagus. Taro is one of the most ancient cultivated plants. It is grown mainly in the moist tropical and subtropical regions of the eastern hemisphere and is an especially popular food in Oceania. It can be cultivated on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus.