Payungan (Tacca palmata)

Payungan (Tacca palmata) is a plant species in Dioscoreaceae, small-sized annual terna, up to 75 cm high, small and pushing rhizomes, filling secondary vegetation in the forest or gardens under the shade of large trees at an altitude of 0-1000 m.

T. palmata has single leaves, 100-30x15-45 cm and is divided as fingers for 5-7 segments supported by a linear main bone and several minor bones that are sideways, the base is narrowed and the tip is tapered, green, solid petiole and not hollow.

Flowers in bunches for 8-25 items and sitting at the end of a solid stem, has four involucral bracts, does not have a filiform bract and a purple-brown header.

Bright orange or red fruit and a diameter of 8-11 mm. Small tubers, ball-shaped, slightly flat and bent, somewhat resembling a kidney, about the size of a nutmeg.

Payungan grow wild in forests, home yards, gardens, under bamboo clumps, in teak and mixed secondary forests and 70-80% shade. Favor sand and clay soils with a slightly acidic and peat pH. Tropic and subtropical regions, minimum temperature of 15C and high humidity.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Dioscoreales
Family: Dioscoreaceae
Genus: Tacca
Species: Tacca palmata

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