''Alocasia macrorrhizos'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the

arum ''Arum'' is a genus of plants in the Araceae family; they are native to Europe, northern Africa, and western and central Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region. Frequently called arum lilies, they are not closely ...

family (

Araceae The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also ...

) that it is native to

rainforests Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

Maritime Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. The terms Island Southeast Asia and Insular Southeast Asia are sometimes given the same meaning as ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

, and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and has long been cultivated in South Asia, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, many

Pacific islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...

, and elsewhere in the tropics. Common names include giant taro, giant alocasia, ape, biga, and pia. In Australia it is known as the cunjevoi (a term which also refers to a marine animal).

History

The giant taro was originally domesticated in the

, but are known from wild specimens to early

Austronesians The Austronesian people, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples who have settled in Taiwan, maritime Southeast Asia, parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesi ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. From the Philippines, they spread outwards to the rest of

and eastward to

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

where it became one of the staple crops of

Pacific Islanders Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subreg ...

. They are one of the four main species of aroids (taros) cultivated by Austronesians primarily as a source of

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diet ...

, the others being ''

Amorphophallus paeoniifolius ''Amorphophallus paeoniifolius'', the elephant foot yam or whitespot giant arum, is a tropical plant native to Island Southeast Asia. It is cultivated for its edible tubers in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Madagascar, New Guinea, and the Pacific ...

'', ''

Colocasia esculenta Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...

'', and ''

Cyrtosperma merkusii ''Cyrtosperma merkusii'' or giant swamp taro, is a crop grown throughout Oceania and into South and Southeast Asia. It is a riverine and "swamp crop" similar to taro, but "with bigger leaves and larger, coarser roots." There are no demonstrably ...

'', each with multiple cultivated varieties. Their leaves and stems are also edible if cooked thoroughly, though this is rarely done for giant taro as it contains higher amounts of

raphide Raphides ( ; singular ''raphide'' or ''raphis'') are needle-shaped crystals of calcium oxalate monohydrate ( prismatic monoclinic crystals) or calcium carbonate as aragonite ( dipyramidal orthorhombic crystals), found in more than 200 familie ...

s which cause itching. The reconstructed word for giant taro in

Proto-Austronesian Proto-Austronesian (commonly abbreviated as PAN or PAn) is a proto-language. It is the reconstructed ancestor of the Austronesian languages, one of the world's major language families. Proto-Austronesian is assumed to have begun to diversify in ...

is ', which became

Proto-Oceanic Proto-Oceanic (abbreviated as POc) is a proto-language that comparative linguistics, historical linguists since Otto Dempwolff have reconstructed as the hypothetical common ancestor of the Oceanic languages, Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian ...

'. Modern

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

s in Maritime Southeast Asia and Micronesia include Rukai ''vi'a'' or ''bi'a'';

Ifugao Ifugao, officially the Province of Ifugao (; ), is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Lagawe and it borders Benguet to the west, Mountain Province to the north, Isabela t ...

''bila''; Ilocano, Cebuano, and Bikol ''biga''; Tiruray ''bira''; Ngaju ''biha''; Malagasy ''via''; Malay and Acehnese ''birah''; Mongondow ''biga''; Palauan ''bísə''; Chamorro ''piga'';

Bima Bima city ( Bima: ''Mbojo'') is a coastal city on the east of the island of Sumbawa in Indonesia's province of West Nusa Tenggara. It is the largest city on the island of Sumbawa, with a population of 142,443 at the 2010 censusBiro Pusat Stati ...

''wia'';

Roti Roti is a round flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, East African, and Southeast African countries. It is made from stoneground whole-wheat flour, kno ...

and

Tetun Tetum may refer to: * Tetum language, an Austronesian language ** Tetum alphabet, used to write the Tetum language * Tetum people The Tetum, also known as Tetun or Belu in Indonesia, are an ethnic group that are the indigenous inhabitants of th ...

''fia''; Asilulu ''hila''; and Kowiai ''fira''. In Oceania,

s for it include Wuvulu and Aua ''pia''; Motu and ꞋAreꞌare ''hira''; Kilivila and Fijian ''via''; and Hawaiian ''pia''. Note that in some cases, the cognates have shifted to mean other types of taro. Indigenous Australian names included ''pitchu'' in the Burnett River (Queensland); ''cunjevoi'' (South Queensland); ''hakkin'' Rockhampton (Queensland); ''bargadga'' or ''nargan'' of the Cleveland Bay. The

Yugarabul Turrbal is an Aboriginal Australian language of the Turrbal people of the Brisbane area of Queensland. Alternate spellings include Turubul, Turrubal, Turrabul, Toorbal, and Tarabul. Classification The four dialects listed in Dixon (2002) are ...

word for the plant, ''bundal'', is also where the name of the suburb

Boondall Boondall ( ) is a northern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was formerly known as Cabbage Tree Creek (after the creek that flows through the area). In the , Boondall had a population of 9,603 people. Geography Situate ...

is derived from.

Uses

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It is edible if cooked for a long time but its sap irritates the skin due to calcium oxalate crystals, or

raphides Raphides ( ; singular ''raphide'' or ''raphis'') are needle-shaped crystals of calcium oxalate monohydrate (prismatic monoclinic crystals) or calcium carbonate as aragonite ( dipyramidal orthorhombic crystals), found in more than 200 families o ...

which are needle like. Plants harvested later will have more raphides. ''Alocasia'' species are commonly found in marketplaces in

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

and

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

and other parts of Polynesia. The varieties recognized in

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

are the ''Ape oa, haparu, maota'', and ''uahea''. The Hawaiian saying: ''Ai no i ka ape he maneo no ka nuku'' (The eater of ape will have an itchy mouth) means "there will be consequences for partaking of something bad". The giant heart-shaped leaves make impromptu umbrellas in tropical downpours. Anthelme Thozet in 1866 documented the method of preparation: "The young bulbs, of a light rose colour inside, found growing on large old rhizomes, are scraped, divided into two parts, and put under hot ashes for about half an hour. When sufficiently baked, they are then pounded by hard strokes between two stones – a large one, ''Wallarie'', and a small one, ''Kondola''. All the pieces which do not look farinaceous, but watery when broken, are thrown away; the others, by strokes of the ''Kondola'', are united by twos or threes, and put into the fire again ; they are then taken out and pounded together in the form of a cake, which is again returned to the fire and carefully turned occasionally. This operation is repeated eight or ten times, and when the ''hakkin'', which is now of a green-greyish colour, begins to harden, it is fit for use."
https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-701626071/]

References

External links

More Information On Alocasia Macrorrhiza
*http://www.canoeplants.com/ape.html {{Taxonbar, from=Q1484310 macrorrhizos Flora of Malesia Flora of Papuasia Flora of Queensland Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Austronesian agriculture

History

Uses

See also

References

External links