{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2026}} {{speciesbox | image = Alocasia macrorrhizos1.jpg | image_caption = Leaves | image2 = Alocasia macrorrhizos blossom.jpg | image2_caption = Inflorescence | genus = Alocasia | species = macrorrhizos | authority = (L.) G.Don<ref name="POWO">{{cite web |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:60444565-2 |title=''Alocasia macrorrhizos'' (L.) G.Don |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |year=2026 |access-date=8 January 2026 }}</ref> | synonyms = {{species list|header=28 synonyms|hidden=yes |Arum macrorrhizon |L. |Caladium macrorrhizon |(L.) R.Br. |Colocasia macrorrhizos |(L.) Schott |Alocasia cordifolia |(Bory) Cordem. |Alocasia gigas |Chantrier ex André |Alocasia grandis |N.E.Br. |Alocasia harrisii-pulchrum |Pynaert |Alocasia insignis |Pynaert |Alocasia marginata |N.E.Br. |Alocasia pallida |K.Koch & C.D.Bouché |Alocasia plumbea |Van Houtte |Alocasia rapiformis |(Roxb.) Schott |Alocasia uhinkii |Engl. & K.Krause |Arum cordifolium |Bory |Arum mucronatum |Lam. |Arum peregrinum |L. |Arum rapiforme |Roxb. |Caladium indicum |K.Koch |Caladium metallicum |Engl. |Caladium plumbeum |K.Koch |Calla badian |Blanco |Calla maxima |Blanco |Colocasia boryi |Kunth |Colocasia mucronata |(Lam.) Kunth |Colocasia peregrina |(L.) Raf. |Colocasia rapiformis |(Roxb.) Kunth |Philodendron peregrinum |(L.) Kunth |Philodendron punctatum |Kunth }} | synonyms_ref = {{R|POWO}} }}
'''''Alocasia macrorrhizos''''' is a species of flowering plant in the arum family (Araceae) that is native to rainforests of Maritime Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and the Murray Islands group in the Torres Strait.{{R|POWO}} It has long been cultivated in South Asia, the Philippines, many Pacific islands, and elsewhere in the tropics, in the order of tens of thousands of years.{{cn|date=March 2026}} Common names include '''giant taro''',<ref name=PLANTS>{{PLANTS |symbol=ALMA11 |taxon=Alocasia macrorrhizos |access-date=30 September 2016 }}</ref> '''giant alocasia''', '''{{okina}}ape''', '''biga''',<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sutarno |first1=Hadi |title=''Alocasia macrorrhizos'' (PROSEA) |url=https://uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Alocasia_macrorrhizos_(PROSEA) |website=Pl@ntUse |access-date=13 May 2020 }}</ref> and '''pia'''.<ref name=GRIN>{{GRIN |access-date=23 May 2010 }}</ref> In Australia it is known as the '''cunjevoi'''<ref name=GRIN/> (a term which also refers to a marine animal).
==History== thumb|Giant taro in Jinguashi, Taiwan The giant taro was originally domesticated in the Philippines, but are known from wild specimens to early Austronesians in Taiwan. From the Philippines, they spread outwards to the rest of Maritime Southeast Asia and eastward to Oceania where it became one of the staple crops of Pacific Islanders.<ref name="Osmond1998"/><ref name="Nauheimer2011">{{cite journal |last1=Nauheimer |first1=Lars |last2=Boyce |first2=Peter C. |last3=Renner |first3=Susanne S. |title=Giant taro and its relatives: A phylogeny of the large genus ''Alocasia'' (Araceae) sheds light on Miocene floristic exchange in the Malesian region |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |date=April 2012 |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=43–51 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2011.12.011 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/895590 |pmid=22209857 |bibcode=2012MolPE..63...43N }}</ref> They are one of the four main species of aroids (taros) cultivated by Austronesians primarily as a source of starch, the others being ''Amorphophallus paeoniifolius'', ''Colocasia esculenta'', and ''Cyrtosperma merkusii'', each with multiple cultivated varieties. Their leaves and stems are also edible if cooked thoroughly, though this is rarely done for giant taro as it contains higher amounts of raphides which cause itching.<ref name="MannerGiantTaro">{{cite book |first1=Harley I. |last1=Manner |editor1-first=Craig R. |editor1-last=Elevitch |title=Specialty Crops for Pacific Island Agroforestry |chapter=Farm and Forestry Production Marketing Profile for Giant Tao (''Alocasia macrorrhiza'') |publisher=Permanent Agricultural Resource (PAR) |year=2006 |chapter-url=http://www.agroforestry.net/images/pdfs/Giant_taro_specialty_crop.pdf }}</ref><ref name="Matthews1995">{{cite journal |last1=Matthews |first1=Peter J. |title=Aroids and the Austronesians |journal=Tropics |date=1995 |volume=4 |issue=2/3 |pages=105–126 |doi=10.3759/tropics.4.105 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240821492 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
The reconstructed word for giant taro in Proto-Austronesian is ''{{lang|mis|*biRaq}}''<!-- Proto-Austronesian -->, which became Proto-Oceanic ''{{lang|mis|*piRaq}}''<!-- Proto-Oceanic -->. Modern cognates in Maritime Southeast Asia and Micronesia include Rukai ''vi'a'' or ''bi'a''; Ifugao ''bila''; Ilocano, Cebuano, and Bikol ''biga''; Tiruray ''bira''; Ngaju ''biha''; Malagasy ''via''; Malay and Acehnese ''birah''; Mongondow ''biga''; Palauan ''bísə''; Chamorro ''piga''; Bima ''wia''; Roti and Tetun ''fia''; Asilulu ''hila''; and Kowiai ''fira''. In Oceania, cognates for it include Wuvulu and Aua ''pia''; Motu and ꞋAreꞌare ''hira''; Kilivila and Fijian ''via''; and Hawaiian ''pia''. Note that in some cases, the cognates have shifted to mean other types of taro.<ref name="blusttrusell">{{cite journal |last1=Blust |first1=Robert |last2=Trussel |first2=Stephen |title=The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary: A Work in Progress |journal=Oceanic Linguistics |date=2013 |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=493–523 |doi=10.1353/ol.2013.0016 |s2cid=146739541 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265931196 }}</ref><ref name="Osmond1998">{{cite book |first1=Meredith |last1=Osmond |editor1-first=Malcolm |editor1-last=Ross |editor2-first=Andrew |editor2-last=Pawley |editor3-first=Meredith |editor3-last=Osmond |title=The lexicon of Proto Oceanic : The culture and environment of ancestral Oceanic society |volume=1: Material Culture |chapter=Horticultural practices |publisher=Pacific Linguistics |year=1998 |doi=10.15144/PL-C152.115 |pages=115–142 |chapter-url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/146170/1/PL-C152.pdf }}</ref>
==Uses== [[File:09979jfChurch Foods Tungkong Mangga San Jose del Monte City Bulacanfvf 03.JPG|thumb|''Binagol'', a Filipino sweet delicacy made from mashed giant taro corms and coconut milk]]
The sap can irritate the skin due to the presence of needle-like crystals of calcium oxalate (known as raphides), but the plant is edible if cooked for a long time.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Susan Scott |author2=Craig Thomas |year=2009 |title=Poisonous Plants of Paradise: First Aid and Medical Treatment of Injuries from Hawaii's Plants |publisher=University of Hawaii Press }}</ref> Plants harvested later{{Clarify timeframe|date=January 2026|reason=Later than what?}} will have more raphides.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Prance |editor1-first=Ghillean |editor2-last=Nesbitt |editor2-first=Mark |last1=Sanderson |first1=Helen |date=2005 |title=The Cultural History of Plants |publisher=Routledge |page=69 |isbn=0415927463 }}</ref> ''Alocasia'' species are commonly found in marketplaces in Samoa and Tonga and other parts of Polynesia. The varieties recognized in Tahiti are the ''Ape oa, haparu, maota'', and ''uahea''. The Hawaiian saying: ''{{okina}}Ai no i ka {{okina}}ape he mane{{okina}}o no ka nuku'' (The eater of {{okina}}ape will have an itchy mouth) means "there will be consequences for partaking of something bad".<ref>{{cite book |author=Pukui, Mary Kawena |year=1986 |title='Ōlelo No'eau, Hawaiian Proverbs and Sayings |publisher=Bishop Museum Press |place=Honolulu }}</ref>
The giant heart-shaped leaves make impromptu umbrellas in tropical downpours.
==See also== * Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20141216191004/http://alocasia-macrorrhiza.com/ More Information On ''Alocasia macrorrhiza''] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140812024608/http://www.alocasia-macrorrhiza.com/GTips.html ''Alocasia macrorrhiza'' Growing Tips] * http://www.canoeplants.com/ape.html
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1484310}}
macrorrhizos Category:Flora of Malesia Category:Flora of Papuasia Category:Flora of Queensland Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Taros Category:Austronesian agriculture