| General Information |
| Distribution | Exact place of origin unknown, occurring from India and Sri Lanka through SE Asia to Polynesia, cultivated widely in the tropics.In the Hawaiian Islands,
a Polynesian introduction on
Kaua`i, O`ahu, Moloka`i, Maui, Hawai`i.
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Habit
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Large herb to 5 m tall; stems erect, to 1 m long and 20 cm in diameter.
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Leaves
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Leaf blade ovate-triangular, anterior lobe 25‒120 cm long, 20‒90 cm wide, posterior lobes 12‒40 cm long, ¼‒½ as long as anterior lobe, primary lateral veins 4‒7 per side; petiole 75‒130 cm long, green or with brownish mottling, cataphylls persistent, 25‒95 cm long.
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Flowers
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Inflorescences 2‒4 together in leaf axils, subtended by bracts, peduncle 20‒45 cm long; spathe whitish-green to yellowish, oblong, 13‒35 cm long, 4‒6 cm wide, constricted ca. 4 cm from base to form a tube to 2 cm in diameter, distal part deciduous or withering; spadix nearly as long as spathe, 11‒32 cm long, pistillate portion 1‒2.5 cm long, stigma 1.2‒1.3 mm in diameter; sterile staminate portion 0.5‒2 cm long, fertile staminate portion 2‒7 cm long, terminal appendage 7.5‒21 cm long.
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Fruit
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Fruit pale orange to scarlet, ovoid or subglobose, 4‒10 mm long, 4‒8 mm in diameter.
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Seeds
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Seeds pale brown, ovoid, c. 2 mm long.
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Chromosomes
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2n = 26, 28, 42.
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Notes
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Cultivated widely in the tropics and
used as a famine food in some areas.
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Contributor
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David Lorence
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