Black Stem Imperial Taro, Black Stem Eddoe, (Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum) 'Fontanesii'

Possibly the oldest cultivated plant species on the planet.

Taro has been a part of the diet of peoples in East Asia and Oceania for 10 000 years or more! So important is it in the Polynesian culture that Taro is considered an elder sibling of humankind, and runners for propagation referred to as “Oha” or children, from the root word “Ohana” for family.

This is a long stolon variety, making tubers as long as a fore-arm, which distinguishes this plant from the dry-land, short tuber taro grown in South African known as Madumbi’s.

Hardier than most Taro, this cultivar prefers to grow in waterlogged conditions, making it an aquatic vegetable. It spreads aggressively and is hugely productive.

Will tolerate dry conditions and cold when dormant in winter, but mulch tubers well as these are produced mostly above ground, looking a little like snakes. Tuber peels and leaves contain calcium-oxylate crystals.

Tubers require peeling and cooking to be edible, when they reveal a pleasant, nutty taste and a very easily digestible and nutritious starchy potato or sweet potato substitute.

Cultivation: Very easy to grow from seed, plants will grow in full sun to half shade

• Grow in shallow water. An old bath or flow bin filled with soil works well.

• Fast growing and very ornamental. Also grown in ponds as feature plants.

We are not providing seed this year, instead we have actual plant root material that will get you growing these massivly productive plants in short order.

2 rooted cuttings