Plant Portraits 17. Buried Treasure

  (Note images in this series were generated with the assistance of modern AI tools. No actual human individuals are portrayed ere. See the first installment of the series for further explanation

 

  

Morning glories, genus Ipomoea,

are prized flowering garden vines, but 

one species grows tubers that have 

sustained human cultures for millenia. 

 Plants have many ways to store food for the next generation. We've seen already storage in seeds and nuts aimed at supporting the establishment of seedlings. Many plants store foods for next year's growth underground, in specialized stems such as tubers, corms, and rhizomes, or in roots like cassava, carrots, turnips, etc. Some, like the peanut, even push their young pods into the soil  to safeguard the young seeds before they ripen. Stored plant food reserves can also feed animals and humans with the skills to find them. 

 



  

A family from the highlands of Papua New Guinea is harvesting sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) 

in their terraced farm. Below them are flooded fields of taro (Colocasia esculenta), and behind are

cultivated bananas. Farming began in New Guinea at least 7000 years ago, independently of 

the other major ares of agricultural invention. 

In Hawaii, a family prepares the traditional dish, poi, from taro. The taro roots are first baked 

in a heated pit, to remove toxic calcium oxalate crystals as well as to soften them. Then they are 

ground into mash in bowls. 

  

In the rain forest of South America, an indigenous family prepares cassava from

the roots of Manihot esculenta  in much the same way as taro is prepared elsewhere. The 

starchy meal can be used in making breads and other dishes, and is the source of tapioca, 

known by young people today as Boba. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Children in India are harvesting turmeric (Curcuma longa) rhizomes. These are used in 

flavoring curry and other southern Asian dishes. They are in the Zingiberaceae, and cousins 

to the more widely used ginger spice (Zingiber officianale), obtained from a similar rhizome. 

Like several other members of the ginger family, Hedychium coronarium rhizomes can be 

eaten, though this species is valued more for its highly fragrant white flowers, used in leis,

 or for fragrant oil extract. The flowers are also eaten, giving a spicy touch to

 various dishes. Hedychium rhizomes are the basis of the Manipuri (India) dish Eromba,