Arrowleaf elephant's ear (Xanthosoma sagittifolium)

Arrowleaf elephant's ear (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) is a plant species in Araceae, 0.4 to 1.5 m high, has no stem and is not woody, waxy leaves, important tuber producers where corm that grows underground is a source of carbohydrates and cultivated since ancient times.

X. sagittifolium has 2-5 leaves with green stems, dark green or purplish stripes, 23-150 cm long and the base is a midrib. Leaves have a size of 6.60x7.53 cm, round eggs, oval with tapered ends, sometimes purplish in color around the stalks, waxy and rounded base.



This species grows in tropical rain forests, in the shade of the forest canopy, but can grow well in open agricultural land with full sun. Generally in the lowlands and requires daily temperatures above 21C. Rainfall is 1400 mm/year, but prefers 2000 mm/year which is evenly distributed throughout the year. Although resistant to salty soils, Xanthosoma cannot tolerate flooding and requires well-drained soil.

Shade level and soil water content affect the total chlorophyll content in the leaves. The combination of 75% shade and 40% soil water content gave the best results in increasing chlorophyll content.

Diosgenin compounds are useful as anti-cancer, inhibit cell proliferation and hypoglycemic effects. Kimpul tubers also contain Water Soluble Polysaccharides which function to improve digestion by increasing the population of bifidobacterium in the large intestine. Tubers also contain anti-nutritional compounds, namely calcium oxalate which causes itching. The density of calcium oxalate crystals in tubers is estimated to be more than 120 thousand/cm, whereas in leaves it is even higher.

The flower comes in the cob on the armpit of the leaf. The sheath has a green or yellow or white and fall out. Arrowleaf elephant's ear is grown for tubers as an important source of carbohydrates. Tubers can be processed by steaming, boiling, baking, frying, or processed into flour, porridge, cakes, pasta and fermented to produce pudding.

This species is planted for tubers as a source of carbohydrates and young leaves as a vegetable. The tubers are prepared in a number of ways including boiling, baking, steaming, pureeing and frying for soups, stews and salads. Flour is used as an ingredient in pastries and puddings. Tubers are also good for making chips. The carbohydrate content can then be processed to produce bioethanol.

The large leaves are used as blankets for patients who have fever because they taste cool and provide temporary comfort. The patient also soaks with the boiled water of the plant. The sap from the inflorescences is used to heal wounds and as an antidote for insect bites and stings. Tubers are also considered efficacious as a medicine for boils.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Alismatales
Family: Araceae
Subfamily: Aroideae
Tribe: Caladieae
Genus: Xanthosoma Schott in H.W.Schott & S.L.Endlicher, Melet. Bot.: 19 (1832)
Species: Xanthosoma sagittifolium (L.) Schott in H.W.Schott & S.L.Endlicher, Melet. Bot.: 19 (1832)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Arum sagittifolium L. in Sp. Pl.: 966 (1753)
Caladium sagittifolium (L.) Vent. in Descr. Pl. Nouv.: t. 30 (1801)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Alocasia alboviolacea Veitch ex J.Dix in Proc. Roy. Hort. Soc. London 2: 673 (1862)
Alocasia talihan Elmer ex Merr. in Enum. Philipp. Fl. Pl. 1: 185 (1922)
Arum nigrum Vell. in Fl. Flumin. 9: 386, t. 107 (1831 publ. 1881)
Arum xanthorrhizon Jacq. in Pl. Hort. Schoenbr. 2: 32 (1797)
Caladium edule G.Mey. in Prim. Fl. Esseq.: 272 (1818)
Caladium mafaffa Engl. in A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle, Monogr. Phan. 2: 471 (1879)
Caladium utile Engl. (1879)
Caladium xanthorrhizon (Jacq.) Willd. in Sp. Pl., ed. 4. 4: 490 (1805)
Philodendron nigrum Kunth in Enum. Pl. 3: 52 (1841)
Xanthosoma appendiculatum Schott in Oesterr. Bot. Wochenbl. 4: 417 (1854)
Xanthosoma atrovirens K.Koch & C.D.Bouché in Index Seminum (B, Berolinensis) 1854(App.): 3 (1855)
Xanthosoma atrovirens var. appendiculatum (Schott) Engl. (1879)
Xanthosoma atrovirens var. hybridum K.Koch in Index Seminum (B, Berolinensis) 1854(App.): 3 (1855)
Xanthosoma atrovirens var. kochii Engl. in Pflanzenr., IV, 23E(Heft 71): 50 (1920)
Xanthosoma atrovirens var. moritzii Engl. (1920)
Xanthosoma atrovirens var. panduriforme Engl. (1920)
Xanthosoma atrovirens var. versicolor K.Koch (1855)
Xanthosoma aureum E.G.Gonç. in Aroideana 34: 8 (2011)
Xanthosoma edule (G.Mey.) Schott in H.W.Schott & S.L.Endlicher, Melet. Bot.: 19 (1832)
Xanthosoma ianthinum K.Koch & C.D.Bouché (1855)
Xanthosoma jacquinii Schott (1832)
Xanthosoma maculatum G.Nicholson in Proc. Roy. Hort. Soc. London 1: 660 (1861)
Xanthosoma mafaffa Schott in Arac. Betreff. 2: 5 (1855)
Xanthosoma mafaffa var. typicum Engl. (1920)
Xanthosoma monstruosum E.G.Gonç. (2011)
Xanthosoma nigrum Stellfeld in Tribuna Farm. 12: 201 (1944)
Xanthosoma obtusilobum Engl. (1920)
Xanthosoma panduriforme E.G.Gonç. (2011)
Xanthosoma peregrinum Griseb. in Fl. Brit. W. I.: 511 (1864)
Xanthosoma poeppigii var. mafaffa (Schott) J.F.Macbr. in Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 11: 8 (1931)
Xanthosoma roseum Schott in Oesterr. Bot. Z. 8: 178 (1858)
Xanthosoma sagittifolium K.Koch (1855)
Xanthosoma utile K.Koch & C.D.Bouché (1855)
Xanthosoma violaceum Schott in Oesterr. Bot. Wochenbl. 3: 370 (1853)
Xanthosoma wallisii Linden in Gard. Chron. 1869: 587 (1869)
Xanthosoma xantharrhizon (Jacq.) K.Koch in Bonplandia (Hannover) 4: 4 (1856)

PUBLICATIONS

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Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.

Albano, P.-O. (2003). La Conaissance des Plantes Exotiques: 1-324. Édisud, Aix-en-Provence.

Ara, H. (2001). An Annotated Checklist of Aroids of Bangladesh. Bangladesh Journal of Plant Taxonomy 8(2): 19-34.

Arias Granda, I. (1998). Flora de la República de Cuba, Ser. A., 1(1): 1-46.

Arruda Pontes, T., Moreira de Andrade, I. & Alves, M. (2010). Flora da Usina São José, Igarassu, Pernambuco: Araceae. Rodriguésia; Revista do Instituto de Biologia Vegetal, Jardim Botânico e Estaçao Biologica do Itatiaya 61: 689-794.

Baksh-Comeau, Y., Maharaj, S.S., Adams, C.D., Harris, S.A., Filer, D.L. & Hawthorne, W.D. (2016). An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Trinidad and Tobago with analysis of vegetation types and botanical 'hotspots'. Phytotaxa 250: 1-431.

Barger, T.W. & al. (2012). New and noteworthy records for the flora of Alabama. Castanea 77: 257-269.

Catarino, L., Martins, E.S., Diniz, M.A. & Pinto-Basto, M.F. (2006). Check-list da flora vascular do parque natural das Lagos de Cufada (Guiné-Bissau). Garcia de Orta, Série de Botânica 17: 97-141.

Figueiredo, E., Paiva, J., Stévart, T., Oliveira, F. & Smith, G.F. (2011). Annotated catalogue of the flowering plants of São Tomé and Príncipe. Bothalia 41: 41-82.

Garcia-Mendoza, A.J. & Meave, J.A. (eds.) (2012). Diversidad florística de Oaxaca: de musgos a angiospermas (colecciones y listas de especies), ed. 2: 1-351. Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

George, A.S., Orchard, A.E. & Hewson, H.J. (eds.) (1993). Oceanic islands 2. Flora of Australia 50: 1-606. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Gosline, G., Bidault, E., van der Burgt, X., Cahen, D., Challen, G., Condé, N., Couch, C., Couvreur, T.L.P., Dagallier, L.M.J., Darbyshire, I., Dawson, S., Doré, T.S., Goyder, D., Grall, A., Haba, P., Haba, P., Harris, D., Hind, D.J.N., Jongkind, & al. (2023). A Taxonomically-verified and Vouchered Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Republic of Guinea. Nature, scientific data 10, Article number: 327: [1]-[12].

Govaerts, R. & Frodin, D.G. (2002). World Checklist and Bibliography of Araceae (and Acoraceae): 1-560. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Haigh, A. & Boyce, P.C. (2012). Flora Zambesiaca 12(1): 1-54. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Hammel, B.E. & al. (2003). Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica 2: 1-694. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.

Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.

Idárraga-Piedrahita, A., Ortiz, R.D.C., Callejas Posada, R. & Merello, M. (eds.) (2011). Flora de Antioquia: Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares 2: 1-939. Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín.

Jørgensen, P.M., Nee, M.H. & Beck., S.G. (eds.) (2013). Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 127: 1-1741. Missouri Botanical Garden.

Lejoy, J., Ndjele, M.-B. & Geerinck, D. (2010). Catalogue-flore des plantes vasculaires des districts de Kisangani et de la Tshopo (RD Congo).

Taxonomania. Revue de Taxonomie et de Nomenclature Botaniques 30: 1-307.

Moreira de Andrade, I. & al. (2013). The Araceae in Ceará, Brazil: humid forest plants in semi-arid region. Rodriguésia; Revista do Instituto de Biologia Vegetal, Jardim Botânico e Estaçao Biologica do Itatiaya 64: 445-477.

Nurtjahya, E. & al. (2026). Flowering Plants of Bangka Island: Native and Introduced. Acta Botanica Hungarica 68: 127-156.

Plunkett, G.M., Ranker, T.A., Sam, C. & Balick, M.J. (2022). Towards a checklist of the vascular flora of Vanuatu. Candollea 77: 105-118.

Sosef, M.S.M. & al. (2006). Check-list des plantes vasculaires du Gabon. Scripta Botanica Belgica 35: 1-438.

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VERNACULAR NAME

Chinese (Simplified): 千年芋
Chinese (Traditional): 千年芋
Cook Island Maori: Taro tarua, Tarua
English: Arrowleaf Elephant's Ear, Kimpul, Blue taro, Purplestem Taro, Purplestem Tannia, Tannia, Purple Elephant's Ear
Halmahera: Dilago Gogomo
Hebrew: אוזן פיל של עלה החץ
Indonesia: Talas belitung, Talas kimpul, Kimpul, Busil, Bote
Japanese: ヤバネイモ - アメリカサトイモ - ココヤム - ミドリセンニンイモ
Java: Kimpul wulung, Kimpul, Glitung, Bisono, Busil, Bentul, Bothe, Linjik
Kannada: Govekesu
Korean: 화살잎 코끼리의 귀
Malayalam: Palchembu, Seemachembu
Palauan: Cheball
Polish: Zółtosocza strzałkowata
Portuguese: Taioba, Xanthosoma appendiculatum, Tambatajá
Russian: Ксантосома фиолетовая
Slovak: Xantozóma šípovitolistá
Spanish: Bore, Oreja de elefante, Tiquisque, Yautia amarilla, Yautía blanca
Sranan Tongo: Tayawiwiri
Sunda: Kimpul hideung, Kimpul, Génjlong
Taiwan: 千年芋
Thai: บอนกระดาดดำ

Aryo Bandoro
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