ABSTRACT:

The history of aroid cultivation in China was briefly introduced in the present paper. Based on the approaches of literature study and field investigation, 16 species in the family Araceae were recognized as crops cultivated in the country. Among them, three species are with very high values both in Chinese history and nowadays. They are taro (Colocasia esculenta, a common food crop), konjac (Amorphophallus konjac, a medicinal and industrial crop), and Ban Xia (Pinellia ternata, an important herbal medicinal crop). The taxonomic issues at species and cultivar levels were argued and discussed. Suggestions for future studies were proposed for aroid crop development.