Post #153434 by Toxic TiKi on Sun, Apr 17, 2005 7:26 PM

Taro, dasheen, or cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum)
Taro corms are roasted, boiled, or baked, and may be made into cakes. Heating is necessary to remove an acrid, irritating property of the raw corm. Traditionally, the substance blamed for this irritation has been the needle-like crystals of calcium oxalate, which occur throughout the plant and become lodged in the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat. Dumbcane (Dieffenbachia), a household plant, is considered a dangerous poison for the same reason. Now other researchers suspect that one or more additional chemicals may be responsible for the acridity and intense itching and burning of raw taro, which would be injected into mucous membranes by the sharp-tipped calcium oxalate crystals. In the Hawaiian Islands, taro plant is eaten after thoroughly boiled to destroy the toxins; the leaf (luau, also the name of the feast using taro leaves) must be boiled at least 45 minutes over low heat, whereas corms are boiled in a deep pot with salted water for at least an hour or until soft.
This is a neat plant to grow around a pond or a bog area, They grow in about 6" of water covering the top of the soil. There is a varity tht has black leaves.