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Cyrtosperma merkusii
Also called Giant Swamp Taro
Giant swamp taro is a large aroid grown as a root crop in wet, low-lying or swampy ground across Oceania and parts of Asia. It needs constantly moist to waterlogged soil and is slow to mature, taking up to about 15 years.
Cyrtosperma merkusii or giant swamp taro, is a crop grown throughout Oceania and into South and Southeast Asia. It is a riverine and "swamp crop" similar to taro, but "with bigger leaves and larger, coarser roots." There are no demonstrably wild populations today, but it is believed to be native to Indonesia. It is known as puraka in Cook Islands, lak in Yap (Federated States of Micronesia), babai in Kiribati, iaraj in the Marshall Islands, brak in Palau, babaʻ in the Marianas Islands, pula’a in Samoa, via kana, Pulaka in Lau, Lovo in Fiji, pulaka in Tokelau and Tuvalu, mwahng in Pohnpei, pasruk in Kosrae, simiden in Chuuk, swam taro in Papua New Guinea, 'kakake' in Solomon Islands, navia in Vanuatu and galyang or palawan in the Philippines.
The same species is also known by the names Cyrtosperma lasioides, Cyrtosperma chamissonis and Cyrtosperma edule.
Giant swamp taro is not suitable for growing in upland or rainfed conditions; it has adapted to growth within fresh water and coastal swamps. It exhibits some shade tolerance and is considered mildly tolerant of saline growing conditions compared to other taro species; that is, it can be grown in mildly brackish water. It is a slow growing crop which can take up to 15 years to mature.
Giant swamp taro is nearly the only carbohydrate crop that can be cultivated on low-lying coral atolls, where it is grown in purpose-built swamp pits dug to below the level of the freshwater lens. The cultivation of Pulaka in Tuvalu, and of babai in Kiribati, has deep cultural significance. In these harsh environments, its cultivation is increasingly threatened by rising sea levels caused by global warming: the plant does not thrive in brackish water, which rots the roots, turns the leaves yellow, and stunts the plant's growth.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cyrtosperma merkusii 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.
