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Colocasia antiquorum
Also called Eddo, Taro, Wild Taro, Cocoyam, Coco Yam, Katchu, Dasheen
Eddoe is a tropical aroid grown mainly for its starchy corms (underground stems) and, after careful cooking, its young leaves. It is closely related to taro and is best grown in rich, well-drained loam with plenty of warmth and moisture.
Eddoe or eddo (Colocasia antiquorum= Colocasia esculenta= taro) is a species in the genus Colocasia. It is a tropical vegetable, closely related to taro (dasheen, Colocasia esculenta), which is primarily used for its thickened stems (corms). In most cultivars there is an acrid taste that requires careful cooking. The young leaves can also be cooked and eaten, but (unlike taro) they have a somewhat acrid taste.
Eddoes appear to have been developed as a crop in China and Japan and introduced from there to the West Indies where they are sometimes called "Chinese eddoes". They grow best in rich loam soil with good drainage, but they can be grown in poorer soil, in drier climates, and in cooler temperatures than taro.
Eddoes make part of the generic classification cará or inhame of the Portuguese language which, beside taro, also includes root vegetables of the genera Alocasia and Dioscorea. They are the most commonly eaten inhames/carás in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo, as well as surrounding regions of all. They are also fairly common in Northeastern Brazil, where they might be called batata (literally "potato"). According to Brazilian folk knowledge, the eddoes most appropriate to be cooked are those that are more deeply pink, or at least pinkish lavender, in the area where the leaves were cut.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Eddoe 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.
