ABSTRACT:

A critical problem for the taxonomy of taro (C. esculenta), and for understanding the evolution and domestication of this species, is that there is no way to recognise, by simple visual inspection, a wild population of taro as part of a natural distribution. This is because people throughout Southeast Asia have long used wild taro as a vegetable for human and animal consumption (as food and fodder). The example of C. formosana Hayata is introduced here because our observations so far indicate that this is a naturallydistributed wild species throughout its known range, despite its close phenotypic similarity to C. esculenta. To learn about the evolution, natural range, and domestication of taro, closer study of C. formosana is recommended.