Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
← Explore Plants
Plant · P-273
Giant Swamp Taro
Cyrtosperma merkusii
Giant Swamp Taro produces an enormous starchy corm - up to a meter long and 80 kg - grown by holding it in permanently flooded pits in tropical lowland swamps for anywhere from two to six years before harvest. It needs standing water 20-70 cm deep held year-round, plus continuous warmth with no hard freeze, for that entire multi-year growing period. Every part is edible once cooked - corm, leaves and flower clusters - but all contain calcium oxalate that burns the mouth raw, neutralized only by thorough cooking, drying or steeping. Its tolerance for brackish water is a genuine asset on a coral atoll, though it has no use away from a permanent wetland.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Partial Sun · Shade
- USDA zone
- USDA 10–12
- Soil
- Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Wet
Vertical layer
Aquatic- Soil pH
- 4.5–8.4
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 10–13 ft
- Mature spread
- 6–8 ft
- Plant spacing
- 3.9–9.8 ft
- Root type
- Rhizome
- Spread pattern
- Root
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
Cattail
Typha latifolia
Cattail is a tall wetland perennial that colonizes the shallow margins of ponds, ditches and marshes, forming dense stands of sword-like…
Aquatic · USDA 3–10
Mosquito Fern
Azolla filiculoides
Water Fern is a tiny free-floating fern that carries its own built-in nitrogen fixer, a cyanobacterium living in a pocket inside every leaf,…
Aquatic · USDA 7–10
Narrowleaf Cattail
Typha angustifolia
Narrowleaf Cattail is a fast-growing wetland perennial that colonizes pond margins and shallow water with dense rhizome mats, reaching about…
Aquatic · USDA 2–11
Water Chestnut
Eleocharis dulcis
Water Chestnut produces a sweet, crisp corm that stays crunchy even cooked, which is why it holds up in a stir-fry - grown in a flooded cell…
Aquatic · USDA 9–11
American Lotus
Nelumbo lutea
American lotus yields three separate harvests from one plant: a rhizome that bakes sweet and mealy like sweet potato and stores for months…
Aquatic · USDA 4–10
Bulrush
Schoenoplectus acutus
Bulrush is a tall wetland sedge that forms dense rhizome colonies along pond margins, lake edges and slow streams, growing several feet tall…
Aquatic · USDA 3–10
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference