Taro, also known as Elephant ear, is thought to be native to Southern India and Southeast Asia. It is a popular root vegetable widely cultivated in many parts of the world. The leaves are large and arrowhead shaped, supported by a long petiole. Taro is believed to be one of the earliest cultivated plants. Due to its popularity and cultivation it has spread greatly and is listed as invasive in parts of the Southeast, including Georgia and Florida. Plants spread vegetatively through rhizomes, stolons, offshoot corms or vegetative fragments. It easily invades wetland edges, swamps, blackwater streams and riverine forests.
Colocasia esculenta can form dense stands outcompeting native plants.
Least Concern
