Taro

Colocasia esculenta is a tropical plant grown primarily for its edible corms, a root vegetable most commonly known as taro (/ˈtɑːroʊ, ˈtæroʊ/), kalo, dasheen or godere (see §Names and etymology for an extensive list).[citation needed] It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in African, Oceanic, and South Asian cultures (similar to yams), and taro is believed to have been one of the earliest cultivated plants.

The English term taro was borrowed from the Māori language of New Zealand when Captain Cook first observed plantations of Colocasia tubers there in 1769. The form taro or talo is widespread among Polynesian languages:[4] taro in Tahitian; talo in Samoan; kalo in Hawaiian; taʻo in Marquesan. All these forms originate from Proto-Polynesian *talo,[4] which itself descended from Proto-Oceanic *talos (cf. dalo in Fijian) and Proto-Austronesian *tales (cf. tales in Javanese). However, irregularity in sound correspondences among the cognate forms in Austronesian suggests that the term may have been borrowed from an Austroasiatic language perhaps somewhere in Borneo and spread from there (cf. proto-Mon-Khmer *t2rawʔ, Khasi shriew, Khmu sroʔ).[5]

Colocasia esculenta has other names in different languages.

In the Philippines, the plant is known as gabi in Tagalog, aba in the Ilocos Region, and natong and apay in the Bicol Region.[citation needed] In India, it is called arvī (अरबी) in Hindi, kesave (ಕೇಸವೆ) in Kannada, alu (आळू) in Marathi, chempu (சேம்பு) in Tamil, chama (చామ) in Telugu, yendem (ꯌꯦꯟꯗꯦꯝ) in Meitei, venti (वेंटी) in Konkani, chēmbŭ (ചേമ്പ്) in Malayalam, and kochu (কচু) in Bangla.[6] It is 芋 (yu) or 芋頭 (yu tou) in Chinese; 芋 (POJ: ō͘) or 芋頭 (ō͘-á) in Taiwanese Hokkien;[7] and vasa in Paiwan,[8] and tali in Amis.[9][10]