Wild taro?

[Kindliing]

Found this in a creek run off in the bush today,
I’m hoping it’s taro ,(colocasia esculenta) ,
If it is it is exciting to find such a staple bush food growing wild.
Brought some back after digging out , to do a positive I.d. First .

 

[Hairyman]

Some info on the different varieties here ....... https://weeds.brisbane.qld.gov.au/w...al,the 200 most invasive plants in the region.

 

[koalaboi]

Most likely it’s cunjevoi which is poisonous. Alocasia brisbanensis.

Be careful.

KB

 

[Kindliing]

Thanks guys, the cunjevoi I know up here is a darker green and glossy, and the leaves are attached to the stem differently, which usually means they point upward or outwards.

I am not familiar with the name you mentioned koalaboi though I have been looking it up .

These ones I found the stem attaches to beneath the bottom of the leave in a way that the leave points downward, and is a lighter green color beneath the leave.

Here is a pic of them,



And here are their corms. I picked smaller plants, so I would say they will be larger on some too,


Here are the leaves on the right of those I found , next to some taro I am growing (left) that was given to me by some people from png.

I thought they could help me identifying them, however apart from it looking different , and saying it could possibly be wild taro which they said people there don’t really eat . They couldn’t say either ,
Another gardener I know couldn’t tell either. So more investigating.

As there is so many varieties some and similar looking plants some toxic like cunjevoi I don’t want to take chances either.

 

[Kindliing]

Here is one the size of a medium potato cut open.

 

[Kindliing]

so a follow up , boiled some of the ‘suspect ‘ corm and some actual known Taro ,
To observe and compare .

The suspect corm turned a grey purple color while the actual Taro stayed white .

Both were white to begin.

I was subconsciously singing that Alice cooper song , “your lips are venomous poison”

So decided it was some bad juju. And ended the curiosity for now.

 

[Kindliing]

In this old ww2 bush tucker / survival training vid ,
there is a small mention of wild taro identification , it says that ’Taro ‘
has a purple spot on top of the leave and if it’s not there it’s the poisonous ’cunjevoi ‘instead.

I checked the actual taro I’m growing , some taro has a purple spot some doesn’t . It’s where the purple stem attaches .