Taccaceae

Tacca leontopetaloides (L.) Kuntze

Description: [syn Tacca pinnatifida]
An herbaceous, aroid-like plant dying back to a large, rounded subterranean tuber. the large spreading leaf is divided onto three main branches, each bearing a number of broad, ovate to rounded lobes. The leaves may be up to 45cm across and are carried on a fleshy stalk to 80cm tall. Small, rounded, greenish-purple flowers are clustered at the end of a fleshy stem to 90cm tall. This cluster is surrounded by large, greenish bracts. Long, thread-like filimanets hang from between the flowers. The fruit are yellow and fleshy.
A common species of open forests also extending into rainforests.

Uses: The raw starch was used in water for diarrhea and when mixed with red clay for dysentery. The starch was also applied to wounds to stop bleeding.

Culture: Plants like a protected, but fairly brightly lit situation. They need an abundance of water while in active growth (Nov-Mar in southern hemisphere) and should be kept fairly dry when dormant.

Mala La'au: A Garden of Hawaiian Healing Plants Web Site Rainforest Plants of Australia, D.L. Jones, 1986