Illustrated Investigation of the Names and Realities of Plants, Volume 4

Serving in the Realm of Earth

original: 役乎坤, yì hū kūn; a classical allusion to the Book of Changes (I Ching) regarding the Trigram Kun (Earth), representing the Earth’s power to nurture and sustain all living things.

The Farmer of Yulou The pen name of the author, Wu Qijun (1789–1847), a high-ranking official and celebrated botanist. says: In Yunnan original: 滇, Diān, there is a variety of taro with red roots and flowers. Its appearance belongs to the same family as the giant taro original: 海芋, hǎiyù; Alocasia macrorrhizos and the jack-in-the-pulpit original: 南星, nánxīng; Arisaema. One can cut the stems of its flowers, peel them, and roast them. When seasoned with the five flavors, it is comparable to Chinese broccoli original: 芥藍, jièlán. However, the whole root itself is inedible.

Indeed, the "crouching owl" original: 蹲鴟, zūnchī; an ancient poetic name for the taro corm, comparing its knobby shape to a brooding owl. has performed truly great service in saving the world from hunger. In the regions between the Zhang and Gong rivers referring to the Gan River system in Jiangxi province and along the bends of the Xiao and Xiang rivers in Hunan province, taro fields are vast and numerous. Yet, those who have not seen this flowering variety are often astonished by its uniqueness; the timid might even fear it is as poisonous as the zhen bird original: 鴆, zhèn; a mythical bird whose feathers were said to be so toxic they could poison wine..

The people of Yunnan eat their fill of the large corm, finding it delicious whether roasted or sliced into pieces. Furthermore, they alone have discovered that the flowering stems can be eaten, finding them even superior to daylilies...