Japanese name: サトイモ（里芋） Scientific name:Colocasia esculenta
[Overview]
A perennial 1–1.5 m tall, cultivated as a crop since ancient times.
Many leaves grow alternately from the tip of a short stem.
The leaves are large and peltate, with long petioles.
The petiole is called zuiki.
The tuber is elliptic to obovate, with a distinctive sliminess, and is starchy and rich in dietary fiber.
In Japan it only rarely flowers in warm regions, but it bears the inflorescence characteristic of the Araceae, a rod-shaped spadix enclosed by a spathe that is green at the base and pale yellow in the upper part.
[History]
It came to Japan via China and Southeast Asia, and is already mentioned in books from the early 900s.
In China it has been recorded since before the Common Era.
[Uses]
The tubers and petioles are eaten, and it is also grown for ornament.
[Cultivation]
It prefers moist soil such as that of paddy fields and sunny conditions, and warm regions are suitable.
It is relatively easy to grow.
Propagate by seed tubers.
