Tacca leontopetaloides

Common Name: Polynesian Arrowroot, Pia

Family: Taccaceae

Country of Origin: Trop. Old World to Pacific

Description: [syn Tacca pinnatifida]

An herbaceous, aroid-like plant dying back to a large, rounded subterranean tuber. the large spreading leaf is divided onto three main branches, each bearing a number of broad, ovate to rounded lobes. The leaves may be up to 45cm across and are carried on a fleshy stalk to 80cm tall. Small, rounded, greenish-purple flowers are clustered at the end of a fleshy stem to 90cm tall. This cluster is surrounded by large, greenish bracts. Long, thread-like filimanets hang from between the flowers. The fruit are yellow and fleshy.

A common species of open forests also extending into rainforests.

Uses: The raw starch was used in water for diarrhea and when mixed with red clay for dysentery. The starch was also applied to wounds to stop bleeding.

Accession #: 199700062

Accession Date: 1997-09-30 00:00:00

Bloom Status: 🪴 Not Flowering

Location: 1209

Quantity: 2

Source: Dewey Fisk - Aroid-L

Culture: Plants like a protected, but fairly brightly lit situation. They need an abundance of water while in active growth (Nov-Mar in southern hemisphere) and should be kept fairly dry when dormant.

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Liliopsida

Subclass: monocots

Order: Dioscoreales

Family: Taccaceae