ROOT VEGETABLES - TARO / Colocasia esculenta - 15 SEEDS

Taro, (Colocasia esculenta), also called eddo or dasheen, herbaceous plant of the arum family (Araceae) and its edible rootlike corm.

Taro is probably native to southeastern Asia, whence it spread to Pacific islands and became a staple crop. It is cultivated for its large, starchy, spherical corms (underground stems), commonly known as taro root, which are consumed as a cooked vegetable, made into puddings and breads, and also made into the Polynesian poi, a thin, pasty, highly digestible mass of fresh or fermented taro starch. The large leaves of the taro are commonly stewed.

Taro leaves and corms are poisonous if eaten raw; the acrid calcium oxalate they contain must first be destroyed by heating.

Taro  is a vegetable of the root family and has such a rich and crazy history that it deserves all the credit it can get. Its described as having a sweet vanilla, floral and potato-y taste, but these reports dont do this exotic vegetable justice.

Read the following list of fun facts about this mysterious veggie, and then try it for yourself:

Its suggested that taro originated in South Central Asia, but slowly spread across the globe.

By 100 B.C. it was being grown in China and Egypt.

 In ancient Hawaiian tales, taro is described as a child who grew into a plant and eventually helped create the human race.

Taro was once used as a medicine, due to its suggested healing powers.

Its starchy corms (swollen underground plant stem) and cormels comprise the edible content of this leafy, root vegetable.

Taro plants usually require a considerable amount of moisture to grow, and thus taro thrives best in extremely wet or flooded conditions.

Taro leaves contain a high amount of protein and are usually boiled and mixed with condiments.

Geographically, the most widespread form of taro is the almighty taro chip.

Taro can be  made  into powder form, which is an ideal ingredient for sweet teas and smoothies.