Colocasia

Colocasia is a genus of 25 or more species of flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to tropical Polynesia and southeastern Asia. Common names include Elephantear, Taro, Cocoyam, Dasheen, Chembu, and Eddoe. Elephantear and Cocoyam are also used for some other largeleaved genera in the Araceae, notably Xanthosoma and Caladium. The generic name is derived from the ancient Greek word kolokasion which in the Greek botanist Dioscorides (1st century AD) meant the edible roots of both Colocasia esculenta and Nelumbo nucifera. It is thought that the edible roots of Colocasia esculenta have been cultivated in Asia for more than ten thousand years.