What is "taro"

Colocasia \Colocasia\ n. a small genus of perennial tuberous herbs of the arum family, of tropical Asia and the Pacific islands, including the taro ( Colocasia esculente).

Syn: genus Colocasia. [WordNet 1.5] ||

tropical food plant, 1769, from Polynesian (Tahitian or Maori) taro. Compare Hawaiian kalo.

n. 1 ''Colocasia esculenta'', raised as a food primarily for its corm, which distantly resembles potato. 2 Any of several other species with similar corms and growth habit in ''Colocasia'', ''Alocasia'' etc. 3 Food from a taro plant.

1. n. edible starchy tuberous root of taro plants [syn: cocoyam, dasheen, eddo]

2. herb of the Pacific islands grown throughout the tropics for its edible root and in temperate areas as an ornamental for its large glossy leaves [syn: taro plant, dalo, dasheen, Colocasia esculenta]

3. tropical starchy tuberous root [syn: taro root, cocoyam, dasheen, edda]

Taro (, ) commonly refers to the plant Colocasia esculenta, the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the Araceae family which are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Thus, this article describes the "dasheen" form of taro; another variety of taro is known as eddoe or Colocasia antiquorum. Other species of taro include giant taro ( Alocasia macrorrhizos), swamp taro ( Cyrtosperma merkusii), and arrowleaf elephant's ear ( Xanthosoma sagittifolium).

Colocasia esculenta is thought to be not native to Southern India and Southeast Asia, but is widely naturalised. It is a perennial, tropical plant primarily grown as a root vegetable for its edible starchy corm, and as a leaf vegetable. It is a food staple in African, Oceanic and South Indian cultures and is believed to have been one of the earliest cultivated plants. Colocasia is thought to have originated in the Indomalaya ecozone, perhaps in East India, Nepal and Bangladesh, and spread by cultivation eastward into Southeast Asia, East Asia and the Pacific Islands; westward to Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean Basin; and then southward and westward from there into East Africa and West Africa, where it spread to the Caribbean and Americas. It is known by many local names and often referred to as "elephant ears" when grown as an ornamental plant.

Taro was a department of the First French Empire in present-day Italy. It was named after the Taro river. It was formed in 1808, when the Duchy of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla was annexed by France under the Treaty of Lunéville. Its capital was Parma.

The department was disbanded after the defeat of Napoleon in 1814. At the Congress of Vienna, the Duchy was restored and given to Marie Louise, Napoleon's wife. Its territory is now divided between the Italian provinces of Parma and Piacenza.

The most notable person born in the then-Département of Taro was the composer Giuseppe Verdi (born 9 or 10 October 1813 in the village of Le Roncole near Busseto).

, is a stand-alone Japanese given name or a common name suffix for males (literally meaning "eldest son"). Tarō can also be used as a surname.

The Taro (Latin Tarus) is a river in Emilia-Romagna, in northern Italy. It is a tributary of the Po and is long. It flows almost entirely in the province of Parma, west of the city Parma. The Taro flows into the Po near Gramignazzo, a frazione of the comune of Sissa, north of Parma.

The Val di Taro, or Taro valley, the drainage basin of the river, occupies an area of . The principal affluents of the Taro are the Ceno, Recchio and Stirone; others are the Gotra and Tarodine. Both the Taro and the Ceno rise on Monte Penna, elevation , in the Apennine Mountains on the border between the provinces of Genoa and Parma.

The river shows strong seasonal variability. In summer it can easily dry, while in rainy periods it can reach a discharge of : this value can double on rare occasions, known , "centennial floods", such as that of November 9, 1982.

The Val di Taro was of strategic importance during the Middle Ages, as it was traversed by the Via Francigena, the pilgrim route and main connection between Rome and France in that era.

About of the river course between Fornovo di Taro and Ponte Taro constitutes the protected area of the Parco fluviale Regionale del Taro, the Taro regional natural park. The area of the park includes the river bed itself, with numerous islets of sand and gravel and wetland areas, and surrounding areas of woodland, scrub and cultivated soil; it has a wide variety of vegetation and fauna.

Following the French conquest of Italy in the Napoleonic Wars, the river gave its name to a département, the Département du Taro.