Xanthosoma sagittifolium

Xanthosoma sagittifolium, or tannia, is a tropical flowering plant from the family Araceae. It produces an edible, starchy corm. X. sagittifolium is native to tropical America where it has been first cultivated. Around the 19th century, the plant spread to Southeast Asia and Africa and has been cultivated there ever since. X. sagittifolium is often confused with the related plant Colocasia esculenta (Taro), which looks very similar and is also used in a similar way. Both plants are often collectively named Cocoyam. Common names for X. sagittifolium include tannia, new cocoyam, arrowleaf elephant's ear, American taro, yautía, malanga, and uncucha. Cultivars with purple stems or leaves are also variously called blue taro, purplestem taro, purplestem tannia, and purple elephant's ear. Tannia is among the world’s most important tuber crops and feeds 400 million people worldwide. There are multiple varieties, the two most common being the red flesh and the white flesh variety. They were sel......read more on Wikipedia.