Tacca leontopetaloides

Tacca leontopetaloides is a species of flowering plant in the yam family Dioscoreaceae. It is native to the islands of Southeast Asia. Austronesian peoples introduced it as a canoe plant throughout the Indo-Pacific tropics during prehistoric times. It has become naturalized to tropical Africa, South Asia, northern Australia, and Oceania. Common names include Polynesian arrowroot, Fiji arrowroot, East Indies arrowroot, pia, and seashore bat lily.

Description

A perennial herb with no stem but leaves up to 1 metre long and divided into 3 segments. The leaf stalks are 1.5 to 2 cm across and about 1 m long. The leaves are 1 to 1.5 m across and divided into 3 parts which are again divided. A single flower stem grows up beside the leaf stem. The flowers are green and purplish on top of a 1 m long flower stalk. There can be 30-40 small flowers and several long spreading and drooping coloured bracts or long thin threads hang from the flower. The leaf and flower stalks are hollow and ribbed which helps distinguish it from the somewhat similar looking leaf of elephant foot yam (where it is smooth and solid). The fruits are yellowish green, long shaped and with 6 raised lines along the side. They can be 4 cm long and 2 cm wide and have several seeds inside. Under the ground there is a round swollen root or tuber. It can be 30 cm across and weigh 1 kg. Some varieties produce several smaller tubers.

Edible Uses

The root is a rich source of starch and can be eaten raw or roasted, or processed to extract its starch. The tubers have eyes, a pale-yellow skin, and dull-whitish flesh; they are usually bitter and nearly inedible when raw due to the presence of taccalin, a bitter substance said to be poisonous, so thorough washing is essential. The extracted starch — known as Tahiti or Fiji arrowroot — is used in breads and soups, and can be mixed with papayas, bananas, and pumpkins, flavoured with vanilla and lemon, and cooked into poi. To extract the starch, tubers are peeled, grated, and the pulp washed repeatedly in water, finally strained through a sieve or cloth; the starchy liquid is collected, allowed to settle, then dried in the sun. In cultivated plants, tubers typically reach 5–10cm in length, though unconfirmed reports suggest they may grow as large as a coconut.

Traditional Uses

The starchy tuber is eaten. The tubers are scraped and mashed in cold water for 4-5 days. It is then prepared like sago. That is, normally the tuber is scraped into small shreds and then washed in water. The starch is filtered out and allowed to settle. The starch is washed several times to get rid of bitterness which is common with this plant. To get clean white starch, the tuber needs to be carefully peeled. The starch can be hung in a cloth to allow the water to drain and then it can be sun dried. Once dry, the fine powdered arrowroot starch will store well in a sealed jar. The arrowroot starch is tasteless. The leaves have been recorded as eaten in Africa. The yellow fruit is also eaten by children in some places. The seeds are edible.

Medicinal Uses

Polynesian arrowroot has a range of traditional medicinal uses across the Pacific Islands. The inside of the root is squeezed in water and the liquid applied as a rinse for injured eyes. Starch from the tubers has been used as a remedy for diarrhoea and dysentery, and the root also serves as a thickener in medical preparations. Root starch is rubbed directly onto sores and burns. Crushed leaf stalks are applied to bee and wasp stings. The stem is roasted, and the sap squeezed out and used as ear drops to treat earache.

Known Hazards

The untreated root is considered to be toxic in some areas.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It grows on the coast in the equatorial tropics and up to 200 m altitude and is mostly seen on sandy beaches, under coconuts and in grassland. It cannot tolerate salty soil. It suits drier areas. It is grown on some of the coral atoll islands. It needs a neutral to acid pH. It needs fertile, humus-rich, well-drained soil. It can grow in light shade. This is a crop mainly grown in tropical Asia and Polynesia. It is also grown in East Africa. They occur throughout the Philippines near the seashores. In the Cairns Botanical Gardens. It suits hardiness zones 10-12.

Where It Grows

Africa, American Samoa, Asia, Australia, Bougainville, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Caroline Islands, Central Africa, China, Chuuk, Congo DR, Cook Islands, East Africa, Ethiopia, Fiji, FSM, Ghana, Guam, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Hawaii, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Kiribati, Kosrae, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Marquesas, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nauru, New Caledonia, Nigeria, Niue, Pacific, Palau, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Pohnpei, Nigeria, Philippines, Rotuma, Samoa, SE Asia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, USA, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Wallis & Futuna, West Africa, Yap, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

Cultivation

Plants are grown from division of the small tubers. A spacing 0.6 x 0.6 m is suitable. Polynesian arrowroot is a plant which grows during the wet season and dies during the dry season. When the leaves turn yellow and the plant dies back, the tubers are harvested. Small tubers are kept for replanting. Often plants just regrow naturally from these small tubers that are left in the ground after harvesting. The plant takes between 8 and 10 months to reach maturity. Plants can be grown from seed. The small tubers produced from seeds are then replanted or left to grow for another year.

Propagation

Propagate by seed, or by division of the small tuberous rhizomes that form at the base of the plant and often remain in the soil when the larger tubers are harvested.

Other Uses

The leaf stalks and flower scapes produce an excellent straw suitable for plaiting into hats and bonnets. The straw is split into narrow strips, then cured and dried, and is said to yield a lightweight, glossy, white hat of excellent quality. Leaf stalks are also fashioned into brooms. Fresh starch extracted from the roots serves as a clothes starch and as a glue; traditionally it was used to paste together the thin layers of beaten paper mulberry bark (Broussonetia papyrifera) when making tapa cloth.

Production

Plants take 8-10 months to maturity. The tubers are scraped and mashed in cold water for 4-5 days. It is then prepared like sago. A tuber can weigh 1 kg.

Other Information

It is a commercially cultivated vegetable. A minor root crop in Papua New Guinea. Of local importance in islands off North Solomons and in Milne Bay Province.

Notes

Also put in the family Taccaceae.

Nutrition

Synonyms

Also Known As

Alarriga, Aligirryaka, Andjohmolon, Arakai asi, Bara kanda, Bat Flower, Chabchab, Chondang, Deva-kanda, Dev kanda, Dhai, Diva, Djambadjoloma, East Indian Arrowroot, Fiji arrowroot, Gabgab, Gandungai, Gaogao, Gapgap, Gasi, Gaugau, Hiththala, Jatashanker, Kabitsam Matjandong, Kachunda, Kaduchurnagede, Kanda, Karachunai, Karachuni, Kattuchena-kizhangu, Kechondang, Kelmerre, Leker, Likir, Loki, Lukeh, Mahoa, Mai-thao-rusee, Makamaka, Makmok, Mara, Marfea, Masoa, Mogmog, Mokmok, Mokomok, Mokumok, Mugamuk, Mukmuk, Mwakamwak, Mwekemwek, Mwekimwek, Ngalkurr, Nguthumu, Pankado, Peddakandagadda, Pia, Pie, Pin-bwa-bin, Ranga, Salep, Seboseb, Singto-dum, Sobosob, Soi tea, Surna, Tacca, Tahiti arrowroot, Tavolo, Te makemake, Toa toa, Topiya, Ubechub, Varade, Vatia, Vitian, Wa-u, Yab-yaban, Yabia, Yabyaban, Yovoli

References (129)

• Tacca references
• Abbiw, D.K., 1990, Useful Plants of Ghana. West African uses of wild and cultivated plants. Intermediate Technology Publications and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. p 31
• Altschul, S.V.R., 1973, Drugs and Foods from Little-known Plants. Notes in Harvard University Herbaria. Harvard Univ. Press. Massachusetts. no. 411
• Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 616
• Backer, C.A., & Brink, B.,van den, 1968, Flora of Java. p 211, 212.

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