[Aroid-l] The Many Faces of Taro

From: lbmkjm at yahoo.com (brian lee) on 2008.01.21 at 16:43:04(16979) Dear Jason. Aloha. From your Aroidiana article, I know you've been at large in Hawaii. Were you studying naturalized aroids in Pohnpei? Were you able to learn details about the indigenous use of the various taro in Micronesia? How they prepare and cook the various forms, etc? Do the native Pohnpei people consider their plants sacred as in Hawaii? Now were you able to see ruins of Nan Madol? I would be interested to know if there are any agricultural evidence associated with the archaeological site....especially Cyrtosperma. Did you witness any evidence that Cyrtosperma endures brackish conditions? How about Metroxylon amicarum, the Caroline Ivory Nut Palm? Did you see any evidence of cutural associations with this species and are the native people currently utilizing any parts ethnobotanically? Aloha, Leland +More --- mossytrail wrote: > I recently visited Pohnpei, Federated States of > Micronesia. > I saw some very large, sagittate aroids there, and > asked > what they were. "Taro," was the reply. > > Later, I got a fuller explanation. As my native > guide and I > walked along a roadside, we saw four species, which > he > explained to me thus: Colocasia esculenta, the > green-petioled variety, he called "Tahitian taro;" > the > purple-petioled form, he did not know the name. > Alocasia > macrorrhizos, he called "wild taro," saying that in > former > times, it was used for food, but no longer. > Xanthosoma sp., > he called "Hawaiian taro." And Cyrtosperma > chamissonis, the > kind I had originally seen, he called simply "taro," > and > said it was the local variety. > > In my several days there, I found that Cyrtosperma > was the > most widely grown kind, in swampy mountain forests > as well > as villages. Green-petiole Colocasia was next. The > other > three were seldom seen. Cyrtosperma seemed to grow > equally > well in sun or shade, provided the soil was > sufficiently > muddy. > > Too bad I never had the opportunity to taste that > local > "taro." > > Jason Hernandez > Naturalist-at-Large > _______________________________________________ > Aroid-L mailing list > Aroid-L at www.gizmoworks.com > http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping

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