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  [Aroid-l] I.D.`ing the plant on the stamp.
From: ju-bo at msn.com (ju-bo at msn.com) on 2008.01.22 at 11:58:42(16984)
----------------------------------------
> From: abri1973 at wp.pl
> To: aroid-l at gizmoworks.com
> Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2008 04:08:20 +0100
> Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] The Many Faces of Taro

Dear Marek and Jason,

I have re-examined the illustration of the postage stamp in question, and my opinion still is, that based on what we have in that pretty ''basic'' ilustration, the plant illustrated on that postage stamp is Colocasia esculenta var. "Piko" (with a sagittate leaf blade and the lobes open to the navel or "piko". See Deni Bown`s EXCELLENT book "Aroids, plants of the arum family", page 250 and 251.)
Bear in mind the person who drew the illustration on the stamp OBVIOUSLY was not a taxonomist! However, the veins in the anterior lobe seem to be the correct number for Colocasia, not Xanthosoma or Cyrtosperma. The deciding factor in I.D.`ing the illustration to me are the corms clearly illustrated on the stamp. They resemble most closely those produced by several vars. of Colocasia esculanta, the illustration even shows the form of the ''huli'' (the section above the corms consisting of petiole bases), and are NOT Cyrtosperma merkusii (changed from the name, C. chamissonis, an old name for C. merkusii) OR Xanthosoma. I hope this helps.
Jason, what a great pity that you were not able to sample eating the corms of Cyrtosperma merkusii! The word you can find on the edibility/taste of this plant in the literature are in general not very flattering, BUT---I had a friend in Asia who cultivated this plant in quantity around a pond, and he told me that in flavor and texture he prefered it to Colocasia!!
I do hope that you came away with at least some good photos of Cyrtosperma plants which you can share with us??

The Best,

And Good Growing!

Julius Boos

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