Scientific Name
Other Names
Life Form
Family
Food- Cultivated for its starchchy root, sometimes eaten raw, but usually consumed after being cooked in various ways and Young shoots are cooked and eaten as a green vegetable. Ornamental- Grown as an ornamental being valued especially for its flowers and attractive leaves. Medicine- The root is diaphoretic and diuretic. It is used in the treatment of fevers. A decoction of the root, combined with fermented rice, is used in the treatment of gonorrhoea and amenorrhoea
Tropical & Subtropical America
Thrives in sun to partial shade in moist, well-drained soils. Found along roadsides, open fields, and disturbed areas in tropical and subtropical regions.
It is perennial herb growing in clumps reaching 50-250 cm tall and spreading 30-100 cm wide.
Stem is erect, unbranched, fleshy, and smooth, green in color, 50- 250 cm tall and 1-2 cm in diameter.
Leaves are large, elongated, elliptical to ovate, spirally arranged, 12-24 cm long and 4- 8 cm wide. Green or violet-green in color with a smooth surface.
Flowers are hermaphrodite, showy, and asymmetrical, solitary or borne in terminal racemes of 2 to 6 flowers. Three colorful petals (red, orange, or yellow) that are 4- 5 cm long and 2 -3 cm wide, with 3 smaller green sepals.
Fruit is ellipsoid capsule, 1.5 -3 cm long and 1-2 cm wide, with a warty or softly spiny surface, turning from green to red to black when mature. Contain numerous black, spherical seeds.
Flowering: July to October,
Fruiting: September – October.