Taro
Colocasia esculenta
A wetland aroid. All parts contain acrid calcium oxalate crystals unless cooked properly. Poi is a fermented/pounded process. Not an elephant-ear ornamental you improvise from the landscaping department unless it is a known food cultivar.
GROW → HARVEST → EAT → DRY → POWDER → CAPSULE → GUMMY — forms are not equivalent. Food first.
Identity
Also called: kalo
What it is
A wetland aroid. All parts contain acrid calcium oxalate crystals unless cooked properly. Poi is a fermented/pounded process. Not an elephant-ear ornamental you improvise from the landscaping department unless it is a known food cultivar.
Edible portions
- corms, cooked
- leaves, cooked in traditional preparations
Absence of a portion from this list means it is not treated as food here — not that every other part is toxic.
Growing
- Climate. 8–12 wet heat
- Light. Part sun, moisture
- Soil. Wet, rich
- Planting. Corms in wet beds. Invasive concern in some waterways.
- Harvest. Corms after a long season.
Preparation and culinary uses
- Poi, boiled corms, cooked leaves (luau) — cook
Safety
- Never eat raw. Oxalate acridity is real. Ornamental colocasias are not automatically food.
Next steps
Sources
- USDA PLANTS Database — taxonomy and range (verify current entries)
- No USDA FoodData Central nutrient profile is attached here. That is not a claim that the plant contains no nutrients.
- State cooperative extension growing guides — verify for your region
Honest incompleteness is preferred to fabricated completeness. If a section is missing, no record for it is attached here — not a claim that the plant lacks that characteristic, and not that it was omitted as a secret.
Internal quality class A. Strong page: distinctive plant facts plus practical growing or kitchen use.