Species · genus Colocasia · Araceae

Cocoyam

Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott

Also known as: Dasheen · Eddo · Elephant's Ear · Taro · Coco Yam

Growth habit

tuberous geophyte

Native range

Assam, Bangladesh, China South-Central, China Southeast, East Himalaya, India, Laos, Malaya, Myanmar, Nepal, Sumatera, Taiwan, Thailand

Reference · C. esculenta

Cultivars of C. esculenta

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under C. esculenta yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Colocasia esculenta is a tuberous geophyte from the warm, wet tropics of South and Southeast Asia, where it grows in moist ground with high humidity and warmth. It wants consistently damp but not waterlogged soil; water when the top inch of mix is just beginning to dry, since the tuber can rot if left standing in saturated soil. Give it bright indirect light and warm, humid air rather than cold or dry conditions.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 3-7d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 7 days

Humidity

High

Temperature

18–30 °C

Soil mix

Rich, moisture-retentive soil that stays consistently damp

Propagation

Division of corms or tubers

Fertilizing

Regular balanced feed through the growing season

Growth rate

Fast

Flowering

Rarely flowers indoors; grown for its large dramatic leaves

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs & humans

Araceae family — contains insoluble calcium oxalate crystals that irritate mouth and digestive tract if chewed. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

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Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 3-7d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (family inference)

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Cocoyam yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.