General Information

COMMON NAMES: Giant Taro, Elephant's-ears, Upright Elephant's-ears TRADITIONAL NAMES: Kape (RR MG AT MK MT AK PL TS TW MH RK); Other Polynesian - Ta‘amu (SAM), ‘Ape (Tahiti), Vai / Vai Nganga (Fiji) GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE India - Indonesia COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Polynesian, Not naturalised; S.Group - common; N.Group - uncommon; Land, lowlands - mountains (++) (300m); wet soils SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Food (former, esp. in famines, Root), Medicine; Poisonous to eat raw tuber - serious KEY FEATURES: Massive green herb to 2m. Stem tuberous to 100cmx15cmØ, semi-erect. Leaves massive to 150x100cm, glossy green, upward-pointing, arrow-like, basal lobes separate, leaf-stalk to 150cm. Flower a spathe to 40cm, on 40cm stalk. Cultivars have blotched leaves, or purple sheen.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present    Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
++++	++	+++	++	++		P	-	-

Northern Group: Present
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
++	P	P	-	+	-

Alocasia macrorrhizos Linnaeus
SYNONYMS: Alocasia macrorrhiza; Alocasia indica; Arum macrorrhizon [O]; Arum indicum; Colocasia indica

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); LILIOPSIDA (=Monocotyledones); ARECIDAE; Arales; ARACEAE. COMMENT: $Alocasia macrorrhiza@ (L.) G.Don of A.C.Smith, RHX etc, but $Alocasia macrorrhizos@ (L.) Schott seems correct on Web.

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -. Comment: The burning action in the mouth caused by eating raw kape results from the mechanical effects of the sharp calcium oxalate crystals. These crystals are dissolved during cooking. (Arnold 1968) Formerly cooked with Ti roots in a special earth oven (Umu). An important famine food.
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Food (former, esp. in famines, Root), Medicine. Comments: The edible 'root' is actually the starch-laden stem, rhizome, tuber or corm. Requires prolonged cooking to breakdown the toxic crystals. It was a traditional famine food. It was cooked in large quantities in a special earth oven (umu) with alternate layers of Cordyline (Tī) roots which contain more sugars. Eaten as an occasional food in Tonga and Samoa.
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Poisonous to eat raw tuber - serious. Comments: The uncooked tuberous stem contains sharp calcium oxalate crystals that burn by piercing the inside of the mouth and throat. For a very small amount the action lasts about 30minutes.

IDENTIFICATION: Massive herb to 2m. STEM semi-erect to 100x15cm(LxØ). LEAVES upward pointing, massive, to 150x100cm, glossy dark green, arrow-like, basal lobes separated to the stalk but often overlapping; stalk to 150cm. FLOWER stalk to 45cm, spathe to 40cm. Garden varieties: 'Variegata' leaves blotched white to dark green; 'Violacea' tinged purple.

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.1356 Wagner et al.- Flowering Plants of Hawaii
p.156 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.56 Hortus 3rd
p.50 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.85 Tropica
p.1/455 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.301 A Cheeseman - Flora of Rarotonga
p.25 Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.366f Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands
p.47 McCormack/Kunzle - Rarotonga's Mountain Tracks and Plants

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM06a, zD02

Web Resources

• Google
• Google Images