View source for Xanthosoma

{{short description|Genus of plants}}
{{redirect|'ape|other uses|ape (disambiguation)}}
{{automatic taxobox
|image = Elephantear_reduced.jpg
|image_caption = ''[[Xanthosoma roseum]]'' 'Elephant ear'
|display_parents = 2
|taxon = Xanthosoma
|authority = [[Heinrich Wilhelm Schott|Schott]]<ref name="GRIN">{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?12943 |title=Genus: ''Xanthosoma'' Schott |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |date=2003-07-09 |access-date=2012-07-13}}</ref>
|synonyms_ref = <ref name=wwwwwwwwwwwwwww/>
|synonyms = *''Acontias'' <small>Schott</small>
*''Cyrtospadix'' <small>K.Koch</small>
|range_map = Xanthosoma distribution.svg
|range_map_caption = Range of the genus ''Xanthosoma''
}}

'''''Xanthosoma''''' is a genus of [[flowering plant]]s in the arum family, [[Araceae]]. The genus is native to tropical [[Americas|America]] but widely cultivated and naturalized in other tropical regions.<ref name=wwwwwwwwwwwwwww>[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=215062 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]</ref> Several are grown for their [[starch]]y [[corm]]s, an important [[root vegetable|food staple]] of tropical regions, known variously as ''malanga'', ''otoy'', ''otoe'', cocoyam (or new cocoyam), ''tannia'', ''tannier'', ''yautía'', ''macabo'', ''ocumo'', ''macal'', ''taioba'', ''dasheen'', ''quequisque'', ''ʻape'' and (in [[Papua New Guinea]]) as Singapore taro (''taro kongkong''). Many other species, including especially ''[[Xanthosoma roseum]]'', are used as [[ornamental plant]]s; in popular horticultural literature these species may be known as ‘ape due to resemblance to the true Polynesian ʻape, ''[[Alocasia macrorrhizos]]'', or as elephant ear from visual resemblance of the [[leaf]] to an [[elephant]]'s ear. Sometimes the latter name is also applied to members in the closely related genera ''[[Caladium]]'', ''[[Colocasia]]'' ([[taro]]), and ''[[Alocasia]]''.
<!-- unsure ID [[File:Xanthosoma Roseum(?) flower, my back yard, Gurgaon, India.jpg|thumb|Xanthosoma Roseum(?) flower, my back yard, Gurgaon, India]]-->

The leaves of most ''Xanthosoma'' species are {{Convert|40-200|cm|abbr=off}} long, sagittate (arrowhead-shaped) or subdivided into three or as many as 18 segments. Unlike the leaves of ''Colocasia'', those of ''Xanthosoma'' are usually not peltate- the upper v-notch extends into the point of attachment of the leaf petiole to the blade.

== Reproduction ==
The inflorescence in ''Xanthosoma'' is composed of a [[Spadix (botany)|spadix]] with [[pistillate]] flowers at the base, a belt of sterile flowers offered as a reward for pollinators in the middle and [[staminate]] flowers on the upper part. Prior to opening, the [[inflorescence]] is enclosed within a leaf-like [[spathe]]. When the inflorescence is ready to open, the upper part of the spathe opens and exposes the staminate area of the spadix; the basal area of the spathe remains closed, forming a spacious chamber (i.e., the spathe tube) that encloses the pistillate and sterile flowers ({{harvard citations|txt|last= Garcia-Robledo et al.|year=2004|year2=2005a|year3=2005b}}).

The inflorescences last for two nights and are [[protogynous]] in some, but not all species.<ref name = "Valerio, 1988" /> They change from the pistillate phase that attracts pollinators on the night it opens, to a staminate phase on the second night, when pollen is shed. When the inflorescence opens, it produces heat and releases a sweet scent attracting its pollinators, [[Dynastinae|dynastine]] beetles (''[[Cyclocephala]]'' spp.). Dynastines arrive covered with pollen from another inflorescence and remain in the spathe tube for 24 hours, pollinating the pistillate flowers as they feed on the sterile area of the spadix. On the second night, they come out of the tube and walk over the staminate flowers, getting covered with pollen, and then flying to a recently opened inflorescence nearby. ({{harvard citations|txt|last= Garcia-Robledo et al.|year=2004|year2=2005a|year3=2005b}}).
Fruit maturation takes several months. Fruits start to develop within the shelter of the spathe tube. When the infructescence
is mature, in some species, it arches back and downwards. In other species, it stays erect. Then, the tissue of the spathe tube rolls outwards, exhibiting the bright orange fruits and the velvety pink inner spathe surface.<ref>{{citation |last1=Garcia-Robledo |first1=Carlos |title=Beetle pollination and fruit predation in Xanthosoma daguense (Araceae) |journal=Journal of Tropical Ecology |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=459–469 |year=2004 |doi=10.1017/S0266467404001610 |display-authors=1 |last2=Kattan |first2=Gustavo |last3=Murcia |first3=Carolina |last4=Quintero-Marn |first4=Paulina |s2cid=85768260}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last1=Garcia-Robledo |first1=Carlos |title=Equal and opposite effects of floral offer and spatial distribution on fruit production and pre-dispersal seed predation in Xanthosoma daguense (Araceae) |journal=Biotropica |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=373–380 |year=2005a |doi=10.1111/j.1744-7429.2005.00049.x |display-authors=1 |last2=Kattan |first2=Gustavo |last3=Murcia |first3=Carolina |last4=Quintero-Marin |first4=Paulina|bibcode=2005Biotr..37..373G |s2cid=86329238 }}</ref><ref>{{citation |last1=Garcia-Robledo |first1=Carlos |title=Geographic Variation and Succession of Arthropod Communities in Inflorescences and Infructescences of Xanthosoma (Araceae) |journal=Biotropica |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=650–656 |year=2005b |doi=10.1111/j.1744-7429.2005.00082.x |display-authors=1 |last2=Quintero-Marin |first2=Paulina |last3=Mora-Kepfer |first3=Floria |bibcode=2005Biotr..37..650G |s2cid=45182954}}</ref><ref name = "Valerio, 1988">{{citation |last=Valerio |first=C. E. |title=Notes on the phenology and pollination of Xanthosoma wendlandii (Araceae) in Costa Rica |url=http://www.ots.ac.cr/rbt/attachments/volumes/vol36-1/03_Valerio_Xanthosoma_wendlandii.pdf |journal=Rev. Biol. Trop. |volume=36 |pages=55–61 |year=1988}}</ref>

== Taxonomy ==

=== Species ===
The following species are accepted:<ref name="wwwwwwwwwwwwwww" />
#''[[Xanthosoma acutum]]'' <small>E.G.Gonç.</small> - French Guiana, Amapá State of Brazil
#''[[Xanthosoma akkermansii]]'' <small>(G.S.Bunting) Croat</small> - Amazonas + Barinas States of Venezuela
#''[[Xanthosoma aristeguietae]]'' <small>(G.S.Bunting) Madison</small> - Venezuela, northwestern Brazil
#''[[Xanthosoma auriculatum]]'' <small>Regel</small> - northwestern Brazil
#''[[Xanthosoma baguense]]'' <small>Croat</small> - northern Peru
#''[[Xanthosoma bayo]]'' <small>G.S.Bunting</small> - Venezuela
#''[[Xanthosoma belophyllum]]'' <small>(Willd.) Kunth</small> - Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas; naturalized in Dominican Republic
#''[[Xanthosoma bilineatum]]'' <small>Rusby</small> - Colombia
#''[[Xanthosoma bolivaranum]]'' <small>G.S.Bunting</small> - Venezuela
# ''[[Xanthosoma brasiliense]]'' <small>(Desf.) Engl.</small> &ndash; Tahitian spinach - Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Trinidad & Tobago; naturalized in southern Brazil
#''[[Xanthosoma brevispathaceum]]'' <small>Engl.</small> - Peru
#''[[Xanthosoma caladioides]]'' <small>Grayum</small> - Panama
# ''[[Xanthosoma caracu]]'' <small>K.Koch & C.D.Bouché</small> &ndash; yautia horqueta - Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic
#''[[Xanthosoma caulotuberculatum]]'' <small>G.S.Bunting</small> - Venezuela
#''[[Xanthosoma conspurcatum]]'' <small>Schott</small> - Venezuela, Suriname, French Guiana
#''[[Xanthosoma contractum]]'' <small>G.S.Bunting</small> - Bolívar State of Venezuela
#''[[Xanthosoma cordatum]]'' <small>N.E.Br.</small> - Guyana, French Guiana
#''[[Xanthosoma cordifolium]]'' <small>N.E.Br.</small> - Guyana
#''[[Xanthosoma cubense]]'' <small>(Schott) Schott</small> - Cuba
#''[[Xanthosoma daguense]]'' <small>Engl.</small> - Colombia, Ecuador
#''[[Xanthosoma dealbatum]]'' <small>Grayum</small> - Costa Rica
# ''[[Xanthosoma eggersii]]'' <small>Engl.</small> - Ecuador
#''[[Xanthosoma exiguum]]'' <small>G.S.Bunting</small> - Amazonas State of Venezuela
#''[[Xanthosoma flavomaculatum]]'' <small>Engl.</small> - Colombia
#''[[Xanthosoma fractum]]'' <small>Madison</small> - Peru
#''[[Xanthosoma granvillei]]'' <small>Croat & Thomps.</small> - French Guiana
#''[[Xanthosoma guttatum]]'' <small>Croat & D.C.Bay</small> - Valle del Cauca in Colombia
#''[[Xanthosoma hebetatum]]'' <small>Croat & D.C.Bay</small> - Valle del Cauca in Colombia
# ''[[Xanthosoma helleborifolium]]'' <small>(Jacq.) Schott</small> &ndash; belembe silvestre - from Costa Rica south to central Brazil; naturalized in West Indies
# ''[[Xanthosoma herrerae]]'' <small>Croat & P.Huang</small> - Colombia
#''[[Xanthosoma hylaeae]]'' <small>Engl. & K.Krause</small> - Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, northwestern Brazil
#''[[Xanthosoma latestigmatum]]'' <small>Bogner & E.G.Gonç.</small> - Venezuela
#''[[Xanthosoma longilobum]]'' <small>G.S.Bunting</small> - Venezuela
#''[[Xanthosoma lucens]]'' <small>E.G.Gonç</small> - Rondônia
#''[[Xanthosoma mafaffoides]]'' <small>G.S.Bunting</small> - Amazonas State of Venezuela
#''[[Xanthosoma mariae]]'' <small>Bogner & E.G.Gonç.</small> - Peru
#''[[Xanthosoma maroae]]'' <small>G.S.Bunting</small> - Amazonas State of Venezuela
#''[[Xanthosoma maximiliani]]'' <small>Schott</small> - eastern Brazil
#''[[Xanthosoma mendozae]]'' <small>Matuda</small> - México State in central México
# ''[[Xanthosoma mexicanum]]'' <small>Liebm.</small> - Chiapas, Oaxaca, Central America, Colombia, Venezuela
# ''[[Xanthosoma narinoense]]'' <small>Bogner & L.P.Hannon</small> - Colombia
#''[[Xanthosoma nitidum]]'' <small>G.S.Bunting</small> - Venezuela
#†''[[Xanthosoma obtusilobum]]'' <small>Engl.</small> - Mexico, probably extinct
#''[[Xanthosoma orinocense]]'' <small>G.S.Bunting -</small> Amazonas State of Venezuela
#''[[Xanthosoma paradoxum]]'' <small>(Bogner & Mayo) Bogner</small> - Colombia
#''[[Xanthosoma pariense]]'' <small>G.S.Bunting</small> - Venezuela
#''[[Xanthosoma peltatum]]'' <small>G.S.Bunting</small> - Venezuela
#''[[Xanthosoma pentaphyllum]]'' <small>(Schott) Engl.</small> - Brazil
#''[[Xanthosoma platylobum]]'' <small>(Schott) Engl.</small> - Brazil
#''[[Xanthosoma plowmanii]]'' <small>Bogner</small> - Brazil
#''[[Xanthosoma poeppigii]]'' <small>Schott</small> - Peru, Bolivia, northwestern Argentina
#''[[Xanthosoma pottii]]'' <small>E.G.Gonç.</small> - Mato Grosso do Sul
#''[[Xanthosoma puberulum]]'' <small>Croat</small> - Bolivia
# ''[[Xanthosoma pubescens]]'' <small>Poepp.</small> - Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, northwestern Brazil
#''[[Xanthosoma pulchrum]]'' <small>E.G.Gonç.</small> - Mato Grosso
#''[[Xanthosoma riedelianum]]'' <small>(Schott) Schott</small> - southeastern Brazil
#''[[Xanthosoma riparium]]'' <small>E.G.Gonç.</small> - Goiás
# ''[[Xanthosoma robustum]]'' <small>Schott</small> &ndash; capote - Mexico, Central America; naturalized in Hawaii
# ''[[Xanthosoma sagittifolium]]'' <small>(L.) Schott</small> (Syn. ''[[Xanthosoma atrovirens]]'' <small>K.Koch & C.D.Bouché,</small>  ''[[Xanthosoma violaceum]]'' <small>Schott</small>)- arrowleaf elephant ear, ''tiquizque'', {{lang|es|macal}}, {{lang|es|nampi}}, {{lang|es| malanga}} or ''American taro''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lim |first1=T. K. |title=Edible Medicinal and non Medicinal Plants |year=2015 |isbn=978-94-017-9510-4 |pages=498–509 |chapter=Xanthosoma sagittifolium |doi=10.1007/978-94-017-9511-1_15}}</ref> - Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil; naturalized in West Indies, Africa, Bangladesh, Borneo, Malaysia, Christmas Island, Norfolk Island, some Pacific Islands, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Georgia,<ref>[http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Xanthosoma%20sagittifolium.png Biota of North America Program, 2013 county distribution map]</ref> Oaxaca<ref>García-Mendoza, A. J. & J. Meave del Castillo. 2011. Divers. Florist. Oaxaca 1–351. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria</ref>
#''[[Xanthosoma saguasense]]'' <small>G.S.Bunting</small> - Venezuela
#''[[Xanthosoma seideliae]]'' <small>Croat</small> - Bolivia
#''[[Xanthosoma stenospathum]]'' <small>Madison</small> - Peru
# ''[[Xanthosoma striatipes]]'' <small>(K.Koch & C.D.Bouché) Madison</small> - Brazil, the Guianas, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Paraguay
#''[[Xanthosoma striolatum]]'' <small>Mart. ex Schott</small> - French Guiana, northern Brazil
#''[[Xanthosoma syngoniifolium]]'' <small>Rusby</small> - Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil
#''[[Xanthosoma taioba]]'' <small>E.G.Gonç.</small> - Paraíba
#''[[Xanthosoma tarapotense]]'' <small>Engl.</small> - Peru
#''[[Xanthosoma trichophyllum]]'' <small>K.Krause</small> - Peru, Ecuador
#''[[Xanthosoma trilobum]]'' <small>G.S.Bunting</small> - Amazonas State of Venezuela
#''[[Xanthosoma ulei]]'' <small>Engl. -</small> northwestern Brazil
# ''[[Xanthosoma undipes]]'' <small>(K.Koch) K.Koch</small> &ndash; tall elephant's ear	- widespread from Bolivia north to southern Mexico and West Indies
#  ''[[Xanthosoma viviparum]]'' <small>Madison</small> - Peru, Ecuador
# ''[[Xanthosoma weeksii]]'' <small>Madison</small> - Ecuador
# ''[[Xanthosoma wendlandii]]'' <small>(Schott) Schott</small> (syn. ''[[Xanthosoma hoffmannii]]'' <small>Schott</small>, ''[[Xanthosoma pedatum]]'' <small>Hemsl.</small>) Oaxaca, Central America, Venezuela
#''[[Xanthosoma yucatanense]]'' <small>Engl.</small> - Yucatán, Quintana Roo

==== Deprecated ====
*''[[Phyllotaenium lindenii]]'' <small>André</small> (as ''X. lindenii'' <small>(André) Engl.</small>)

=== Etymology ===
The name is derived from the [[Greek language|Greek]] words {{lang|el|ξανθός}} ({{Lang|el-latn|xanthos}}), meaning 'yellow', and {{lang|el|σῶμα}} ({{Lang|el-latn|soma}}), meaning 'body'. It refers to the stigma or yellow inner tissues.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ndDtX-RjYkC |title=CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names |volume=IV R-Z |year=2000 |first=Umberto |last=Quattrocchi |publisher=Taylor & Francis US |isbn=978-0-8493-2678-3 |page=2849}}</ref>

== Uses ==
{| class="sortable wikitable" style="float:right; margin: 0 0 0.5em 1em"
|+ Top Yautía (Cocoyam) Producers<br />(in metric tons) <ref>{{cite web|url=http://faostat.fao.org/site/339/default.aspx |publisher=[[FAO|UN Food & Agriculture Organization]] (FAO) |title=Production of Yautia (Cocoyam) by countries |year=2014 |access-date=22 April 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713020710/http://faostat.fao.org/site/339/default.aspx |archive-date=July 13, 2011 }}</ref>
!Rank
!Country
!2012
!2013
!2014
|-
| 1 || {{CUB}} || 153782 || 185922 || 269590
|-
| 2 || {{VEN}} || 75132 || 84516 || 85607
|-
| 3 || {{ELS}} || 43000 || 43000 || 41110
|-
| 4 || {{PER}} || 29200 || 30000 || 30960
|-
| 5 || {{CRI}} || 11692 || 23742 || 30000
|-
| 6 || {{DOM}} || 32595 || 29104 || 28180
|- style="background:#ccc;"
| — || ''World'' || 378952 || 423415 || 508079
|-
|}
[[Image:YautiaYield.png|thumb|300px|right|Worldwide yautía yield]]
Domestication of ''Xanthosoma'' species (especially ''[[Xanthosoma sagittifolium|X. sagittifolium]]'' but also ''X.&nbsp;atrovirens'', ''X.&nbsp;violaceum'', ''X.&nbsp;maffaffa'' and others) is thought to have originated in northern lowland [[South America]], then spread to the [[Antilles]] and [[Mesoamerica]]. Today, ''Xanthosoma'' is still grown in all those regions, but is especially popular in [[Cuba]], the [[Dominican Republic]] and [[Puerto Rico]], where it is used in ''[[alcapurria]]s'' or boiled. It is grown in [[Trinidad and Tobago]], [[Guyana]] and [[Jamaica]] to make the popular ''[[callaloo]]'' dish,<ref>{{cite book|publisher=[[Lonely Planet]]|title=Caribbean Islands|year=2021|page=243|isbn=978-1-78701-673-6}}</ref> and in [[St. Kitts and Nevis]] to make tannia [[fritter]]s.<ref>{{cite book|publisher=[[Lonely Planet]]|title=Caribbean Islands|year=2021|page=682|isbn=978-1-78701-673-6}}</ref>

It is also grown in [[West Africa]], now a major producer, where it can be used as a replacement for [[yam (vegetable)|yams]] in a popular regional dish called ''[[fufu]]''.

''Xanthosoma'' is also grown as a crop in the [[Philippines]].

Traditionally, ''Xanthosoma'' has been a [[subsistence agriculture|subsistence crop]] with excess sold at local markets, but in the [[United States]], large numbers of [[Latin American]] immigrants have created a market for commercial production. In general, production has yet to meet demand in some areas. In Polynesia, ''Alocasia macrorrhizos'' (''‘ape'') was considered a [[famine food]], used only in the event of failure of the much preferred [[taro]] (''kalo'') crop.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Abbott, Isabella Aiona.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/26509190|title=Lā'au Hawai'i : traditional Hawaiian uses of plants|date=1992|publisher=Bishop Museum Press|isbn=0-930897-62-5|location=[Honolulu, Hawaii]|pages=5|oclc=26509190}}</ref>  After having been introduced to Hawaii in the 1920s from South America, ''Xanthosoma'' has naturalized and has become more common than ''A. macrorrhizos'', and has been given the same name, ''ʻape''.

The typical ''Xanthosoma'' plant has a growing cycle of 9 to 11 months, during which time it produces a large stem called a [[corm]], this  surrounded by smaller edible ''cormels'' about the size of [[potato]]es. These cormels (like the corm) are rich in starch. Their taste has been described as earthy and nutty, and they are a common ingredient in soups and stews. They may also be eaten [[grilling|grilled]], [[frying|fried]], or [[purée]]d. The young, unfurled leaves of some varieties can be eaten as boiled [[leafy vegetable]]s or used in [[soup]]s and [[stew]]s, such as the Caribbean ''callaloo''.
 
Flour made from ''Xanthosoma'' species is [[hypoallergenic]].<ref>Vaneker, K. [https://books.google.com/books?id=sV5tBQAAQBAJ The Pomtajer.] Page 216 ''In'': Friedland, S. R., Ed. ''Vegetables: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cooking 2008'': Volume 26 of ''Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery''. Oxford Symposium, 2009.</ref>

== Gallery ==

<gallery>
File:Xanthosoma sagittifolium at Kadavoor.jpg|Inflorescence of ''[[Xanthosoma sagittifolium]]''
File:Inflo detail.jpg|Inflorescence of ''X.&nbsp;daguense''
File:Xanthosoma pollination.jpg|Beetle pollination in ''X.&nbsp;daguense''
File:Infruc Xanthosoma copy.jpg|Infructescence of ''X.&nbsp;poeppigii'' (Peruvian Amazonas); ''X.&nbsp;daguense'' (Western Cordillera of Los Andes, Colombia)
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*{{Wikispecies-inline}}
* [http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/nexus/Xanthosoma_nex.html ''Xanthosoma'' spp. at Purdue University, Center for New Crops & Plants Products]
* [http://www.kallus.com/aroids/ediblescientific.htm Distribution and names of edible aroids]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q763075}}

[[Category:Xanthosoma| ]]
[[Category:Araceae genera]]
[[Category:Root vegetables]]
[[Category:Leaf vegetables]]
[[Category:Staple foods]]