taro (in flower)

Taro is an ancient crop grown throughout the tropics and subtropics. Taro is believed to have originated in Southeast Asia and India. Sometimes called the "potato of the tropics," or "elephant ears", taro is a wetland herbaceous perennial with huge “elephant ear” like leaves which can be eaten as a vegetable. There are more than 200 cultivars of taro that fall into two main groups: wetland taros, the source of the Polynesian food poi, which is made from the main corm; and upland taros, which produce numerous eddos that are used much like potatoes for cooking and in processing. Taro, although grown commercially in many areas of the Pacific Basin, for the most part, is a backyard crop planted usually in small plots near the house, as is this specimen.