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Goeppertia allouia
Also called Llerenes, Sweet Corn Tuber
Guinea arrowroot is a tropical perennial grown for its edible tubers, which taste like sweet corn when boiled. Its key to success is steady moisture during dry spells, and it does best in partial shade.
Goeppertia allouia (syn. Calathea allouia), known as lerén or lairén in Spanish, and also known in English as Guinea arrowroot, and sweet corn root, is a plant in the arrowroot family, native to northern South America and the Caribbean. The name "allouia" is derived from the Carib name for the plant. Lerén is a minor food crop in the American tropics, but was one of the earliest plants domesticated by pre-historic Amerindians in South America.
Lerén is adapted to a tropical climate with alternating rainy and dry seasons. It sprouts with the first rains and grows rapidly, forming tubers which are harvested as the foliage begins to die back eight or nine months after the initial sprouting. The rhizomes, harvested at the same time, are tolerant of both drying and flooding, and divided and replanted again at the onset of the rainy season. Frequent irrigation is necessary during dry periods. Lerén is often planted in shade or partial shade but can grow in full sun with adequate moisture and nutrients.
Lerén is traditionally cultivated on a small scale. Its cultivation is declining as it has been replaced by other crops.
Goeppertia allouia is native to Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Lesser Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. It is reportedly naturalized in Jamaica.
Lerén is usually cooked by boiling the tubers for 15 to 60 minutes, As food, lerén is often compared to water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis) because lerén, like the water chestnut, retains its crispness despite being cooked. Boiled lerén has a taste similar to sweet corn, hence one of its common English names. The cooked tuber is covered with a thin, edible skin which is most easily peeled after cooking. Lerén is mostly eaten as an hors d'oeuvre or appetizer. Lerén tubers can be stored at room temperatures for up to three months, but do not tolerate refrigeration well.
Goeppertia orbifolia · Goeppertia picturata · Goeppertia warszewiczii · Goeppertia concinna · Eternal Flame · Goeppertia fasciata · Rattlesnake Plant · Calathea Musaica · Goeppertia loeseneri · Goeppertia louisae · Goeppertia macrosepala · Goeppertia majestica
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Goeppertia allouia 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.
