Giant aroid
Typhonodorum lindleyanum
Family: Araceae
What it is like
A taro family plant with a thick trunk and broad leaves. It is a large herb that keeps growing from year to year. It has a false stem like a banana. This can be 4 m tall and 30 cm across at the base. There is an underground rhizome. The leaf stalks and sheth are 3 m long. The leaf blade is 140 cm long and 85 cm wide. It is shaped like an arrow head. The flowers are a column shaped spadix 55 cm long. It is yellow to white and has a large leaf like spathe that is 80 cm long around it. The fruit are large and oval. They contain round berries 4 cm across. These are yellow when ripe. There are 1-2 flattened brown seeds inside.
There is only one Typhonodorum species.
Where it is found
A tropical plant. It grows in shallow water. It needs a temperature above 20°C. It is often in swamps near the sea. Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens.
Countries/locations it is found in
Africa, Australia, Comoros, East Africa, Madagascar, Tanzania
How it is used for food
The large rootstock or rhizome is processed, roasted and eaten. They are chopped and boiled and washed several times. to remove the oxalates. Alternatively they are chopped and soaked in water for 2 days then dried in the sun. The fleshy seeds are roasted and eaten. Caution: Plants in this family usually have oxalate crystals and need special processing.
It is a famine food. The oxalates can irritate the throat.
Edible parts
Tubers, root, fruit - seeds, rhizome, vegetable
How it is grown
Plants can be grown from fresh seed sown into mud. It can also be grown using suckers.
The rootstocks are harvested during the rainy season. Dried slices and flour can be stored for several months.
Its other names
Local names
Mbie, Mgombakofi, Mtongonya, Via