''Goeppertia allouia'' (syn. ''Calathea allouia''), known as lerén or lairén in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, and also known in English as Guinea arrowroot, and sweet corn root, is a plant in the arrowroot family, native to northern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. The name "allouia" is derived from the Carib name for the plant. Lerén is a minor food crop in the American tropics, but was one of the earliest plants domesticated by pre-historic

Amerindians In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

in South America.

Distribution

''Goeppertia allouia'' is native to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. It is reportedly naturalized in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. Lerén has been introduced as a minor root crop in tropical regions around the world.

Description

Lerén is a perennial plant, approximately in height. It produces egg-shaped tuberous roots to long at the end of fibrous roots. The leaves are large, up to long and wide.

Indigenous people of the Americas In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

have used the durable leaves to make traditional medicines and as baby clothing. Lerén usually reproduces itself through

rhizomes In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

which produce shoots and new plants.

Cultivation

Lerén is adapted to a tropical climate with alternating rainy and dry seasons. It sprouts with the first rains and grows rapidly, forming tubers which are harvested as the foliage begins to die back eight or nine months after the initial sprouting. The rhizomes, harvested at the same time, are tolerant of both drying and flooding, and divided and replanted again at the onset of the rainy season. Frequent irrigation is necessary during dry periods. Lerén is often planted in shade or partial shade but can grow in full sun with adequate moisture and nutrients. Lerén is traditionally cultivated on a small scale. Its cultivation is declining as it has been replaced by other crops.

Food

Lerén is usually cooked by boiling the tubers for 15 to 60 minutes, As food, lerén is often compared to water chestnut (''

Eleocharis dulcis ''Eleocharis dulcis'', the Chinese water chestnut or water chestnut, is a grass-like Cyperaceae, sedge native to Asia, tropical Africa, and Oceania. It is grown in many countries for its edible corms, but if eaten uncooked, the surface of the ...

'') because lerén, like the water chestnut, retains its crispness despite being cooked. Boiled lerén has a taste similar to

sweet corn Sweet corn (''Zea mays'' convar. ''saccharata'' var. ''rugosa''), also called sweetcorn, sugar corn and pole corn, is a variety of maize grown for human consumption with a high sugar content. Sweet corn is the result of a naturally occurring rec ...

, hence one of its common English names. The cooked tuber is covered with a thin, edible skin which is most easily peeled after cooking. Lerén is mostly eaten as an

hors d'oeuvre An hors d'oeuvre ( ; ), appetiser, appetizer or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the meal, or ...

or appetizer. Lerén tubers can be stored at room temperatures for up to three months, but do not tolerate refrigeration well. The nutritional value of lerén has not been thoroughly studied, but the tubers have a starch content of 13-15 percent and a protein content of 6.6 percent.

Prehistoric domestication

Archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

have discovered that lerén was one of the first plants domesticated in prehistoric South America. Lerén, along with arrowroot (''

Maranta arundinacea ''Maranta arundinacea'', also known as arrowroot, maranta, West Indian arrowroot, obedience plant or Bermuda arrowroot is a large, perennial plant, perennial herb found in rainforest habitats of the Americas, but cultivated in tropical regio ...

''), squash (''

Cucurbita moschata ''Cucurbita moschata'' is a species originating in the tropical Americas which is cultivated for edible flesh, flowers, greens, and seeds. It includes cultivars known in English as squash or pumpkin. Cultivars of ''C. moschata'' are generally m ...

''), and bottle gourd (''

Lagenaria siceraria Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, New Guinea butter bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvest ...

'') were being eaten and possibly cultivated in Colombia by about 9000 BCE. It appears that the cultivation of lerén spread to places where it was not likely native. For example, the people of the

Las Vegas culture Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-large ...

on the arid and semi-arid

Santa Elena Peninsula The Santa Elena Peninsula is a peninsula in Santa Elena Province, Ecuador. The Santa Elena Peninsula contains the westernmost point on mainland Ecuador and is bordered by the Gulf of Guayaquil to the south and the Santa Elena Bay to the north. Th ...

likely grew lerén by about 9000 BCE. Lerén was being grown to be eaten raw, dried, or ground into flour.Piperno, S-458-459

References

{{Taxonbar, from2=Q5018563, from1=Q50841670 allouia Root vegetables Edible plants Plants described in 1829 Flora of Cuba Flora of Haiti Flora of the Dominican Republic Flora of Puerto Rico Flora of the Windward Islands Flora of the Leeward Islands Flora of Trinidad and Tobago Flora of Venezuela Flora of Colombia Flora of Ecuador Flora of Peru Flora of Brazil Plants used in Native American cuisine Early agriculture in Mesoamerica Tropical agriculture Mesoamerican cuisine Native American cuisine Crops originating from South America Flora without expected TNC conservation status