Alocasia macrorrhizos is a species of flowering plant in the arum family (Araceae) that is native to rainforests of Maritime Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and the Murray Islands group in the Torres Strait of Australia. It has long been cultivated in South Asia, the Philippines, many Pacific islands, and elsewhere in the tropics, in the order of tens of thousands of years.[citation needed] Common names include giant taro, giant alocasia, ʻape, biga, and pia. In Australia it is known as the cunjevoi (a term which also refers to a marine animal).
History
Giant taro in Jinguashi, TaiwanGiant taro in southern Brazil
The giant taro was originally domesticated in the Philippines, but are known from wild specimens to early Austronesians in Taiwan. From the Philippines, they spread outwards to the rest of Maritime Southeast Asia and eastward to Oceania where it became one of the staple crops of Pacific Islanders. They are one of the four main species of aroids (taros) cultivated by Austronesians primarily as a source of starch, the others being Amorphophallus paeoniifolius, Colocasia esculenta, and Cyrtosperma merkusii, each with multiple cultivated varieties. Their leaves and stems are also edible if cooked thoroughly, though this is rarely done for giant taro as it contains higher amounts of raphides which cause itching.
Usually the starch-containing rhizome and above-ground stem of the plant are collected and used for food. The leaf and leaf stem are also edible. Since the plant's sap can irritate all parts of the body that came in contact with it, due to presence of needle-like crystals of calcium oxalate (known as raphides), they have to be thoroughly cooked to avoid adverse effects. Plants harvested later[timeframe?] will have more raphides. Alocasia species are commonly found in marketplaces in Samoa and Tonga and other parts of Polynesia. The varieties recognized in Tahiti are the Ape oa, haparu, maota, and uahea. The Hawaiian saying: ʻAi no i ka ʻape he maneʻo no ka nuku (The eater of ʻape will have an itchy mouth) means "there will be consequences for partaking of something bad".
The giant heart-shaped leaves make impromptu umbrellas in tropical downpours.
1234"Alocasia macrorrhizos (L.) G.Don". Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2026. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
12Osmond, Meredith (1998). "Horticultural practices"(PDF). In Ross, Malcolm; Pawley, Andrew; Osmond, Meredith (eds.). The lexicon of Proto Oceanic: The culture and environment of ancestral Oceanic society. Vol.1: Material Culture. Pacific Linguistics. pp.115–142. doi:10.15144/PL-C152.115. Archived(PDF) from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
↑Susan Scott; Craig Thomas (2009). Poisonous Plants of Paradise: First Aid and Medical Treatment of Injuries from Hawaii's Plants. University of Hawaii Press.
↑Sanderson, Helen (2005). Prance, Ghillean; Nesbitt, Mark (eds.). The Cultural History of Plants. Routledge. p.69. ISBN0415927463.
↑Pukui, Mary Kawena (1986). 'Ōlelo No'eau, Hawaiian Proverbs and Sayings. Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press.
