Taro is a large perennial herbaceous plant growing up to 5-6 feet. It's rather large heart-shaped, frilly edged leaves at the end of long, stout petioles appear like elephant’s ear. It grows best in marshy, wet soil and warm humid climates. The corm grows to a size of a turnip, has globular or oblong shape with brown fibrous skin. Its surface is marked by circular rings indicating points of attachment of scaly leaves. Inside, its flesh is white to cream-yellow, but may feature different colors depending upon cultivar types. An average-size corm weighs about 2-4 pounds. It’s delicious, crispy-textured meat becomes soft and edible once cooked and has nutty flavor just like that of water chestnuts.
colocasia esculenta plant
Dasheen (Taro) plant (C.esculenta var.esculenta)
Photo courtesy: IngaMun.
Yautia (Xanthosoma species), also known as tannia, malanga etc., is similar to taro but smaller and has somewhat elongated, bumpy corms grown widely in East Asia, Caribbean and South American regions.
Eddoe (Colocasia esculenta antiquorum) is also a smaller size corm with irregular surface. It grows widely in India, China, and Japan as well as in some Caribbean countries. It is known as arbi in the Indian subcontinent.