Colocasia gigantea Hook.f. (Araceae)

Scientific name
Colocasia gigantea Hook.f.
Family name
Araceae
Common name
Giant taro (English); hasuimo, taroimo (Japanese)
Local name
Tuun, khuun
Herbaceous perennial, up to 150 cm tall. Leaves yellowish-green, 45–50 × 35–40 cm, base deeply cordate, margin more or less undulate; veins in 8–10 pairs, very stout; lobes 15–20 cm, rounded, sinus open; leaf stalk yellowish-green, succulent, 50–90 cm long. Peduncle very stout. Spathe 12–15 cm long, coriaceous; tube c. 6.5 cm long, glaucous, limb erect. Spadix yellow; female inflorescence c. 3.5 cm, conical; sterile inflorescence c. 2.5 cm long, slender; male stout, cylindrical, terminating in rudimentary conical appendage. Ovaries numerous, narrow, stigma very broad, covering the whole ovary; ovules parietal, scattered. Ovaries very unusual among congeners. Similar in appearance to Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott, but distinguished by its yellowish-green leaves and stems.
Traditional medicinal use
Functionality
Functional constituents
Occasionally grown by villagers for its edible leaf stalks, as a non-toxic alternative to wild taro. Easily propagated by separating suckers from old stem bases. Grows well in marshy soil under full sun.
Leaf stalks are harvested year-round and eaten raw in som tam (spicy papaya salad), or cooked in curry dishes, kaeng tuun (sour fish soup), or as a side dish with other hot, spicy foods.
Caution:  Not to be confused with wild taro or other wild araceous plants, all of which contain toxic calcium oxalate crystals.
Stems
Leaves