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Amorphophallus konjac
Also called Elephant Yam, Konjac, Leopard Palm, Snake Palm, Umbrella Arum
Devil's tongue (konjac) is a perennial tuberous plant grown for its large starchy corm, which is processed into konjac flour, jelly and noodles. The key to growing it is warm, humid conditions with partial shade, and the corm must never be eaten raw.
Amorphophallus konjac, commonly known as juruo (Chinese: 蒟蒻; pinyin: jǔruò), konnyaku or konjac, or moyu (Chinese: 魔芋; pinyin: móyù), is a species of flowering plant in the family Araceae. In English, it is also referred to as devil's tongue, voodoo lily, snake palm, or elephant yam.
Native to China and cultivated in East and Southeast Asia, the perennial species forms a corm, the stem of which produces a purplish flower. Food made from the corm is known as konnyaku in Japanese – which can be made into white or black cake, as well as a kind of noodle called shirataki – or as the Chinese 魔芋 móyù, a term that also refers to the plant itself.
Wild forms grow naturally in China (Yunnan in the southwest) and Southeast Asia.
Moyu (konjac) is grown in warm subtropical to tropical areas of East and Southeast Asia, from China and Japan south to Indonesia and Vietnam (USDA hardiness zone 6–11). and it is prized for its large starchy corms, used to create a flour and jelly of the same name. It is also used as a vegan substitute for gelatin.
Amorphophallus abyssinicus · Whitespot giant arum · Titan arum
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Amorphophallus konjac by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
