― Leaf Light green, leathery and dark green leaves, simple, ovate or obovate, pointed or rounded at the apex, 5–10 cm long and 4–7 cm breadth.
― Flower/Fruits Inconspicuous flowers, usually white or cream and pedunculate, ascending or erect, corymbose cymes, collected into a terminal leafless panicle, or the lower peduncles arising from the axis of reduced leaves. The 5 divisionsioned calyx, bright green pointed lobes; 5 narrow, white or creamy-white petals, covered with silky hairs on their outer side. The bright-red ovoid berry fruit of 2.5–3 cm length and 2–2.5 cm width covered with very short hairs and possess a thin layer of white pulp, ~0.2cm thick, surrounding a single spherical or ovoid seed.
Genetic Makeup
References www.nzdl.org site with book title “Root crops” authored by Kay, D.E. (1987)
Plant Solenostemon rotundifolius
Origin Central or East Africa
Morphological features/ Identification marks
― Roots/tubers Small dark-brown clustered tubers, smaller, with an aromatic sweetish flavor. In Sri Lanka, 2 main types are recogniszed, the small-tubered type favored for its delicate flavor and the larger type that produces heavier crops which are easier to harvest. In West Africa, there are three recognized types: nigra, widespread in Mali, with small tubers and blackish skin; rubra, with small reddish-gray or reddish-yellow tubers; and alba, which is whitish.
― Stem Small, herbaceous annual, 15–30 cm height, prostrate or ascending, and a succulent stem.
― Leaf Thick leaves with an aromatic smell resembling that of mint.
― Flower/Fruits Flowers are small, pale violet in colour, produced on an elongated terminal raceme.
Genetic Makeup
References www.nzdl.org site with book title “Root crops” authored by Kay, D.E. (1987)
Plant Nelumbo nucifera
Origin Southrast Asia and possibly Africa
Morphological features/ Identification marks
― Roots/tubers Creeping white globulous rhizome, 60–120 cm in length and 5–10 cm in diameter, about 150 g–1.2 kg weight. The flesh varies in color (white or grayish-white to pink or orange-buff).
― Stem Perennial aquatic herb
― Leaf Intervals, a single leaf, Leaves are peltate, 60–90 cm in diameter on very long petioles and are often raised 1–2 m above the surface of the water and with wax coating.
― Flower/Fruits Flowers are solitary at the ends of long stems, four sepals, numerous petals and stamens, large, 15–25 cm across, very showy, variously pink shades colored and cone-shaped torus, 5–10 cm diameter, with 10–30 carpers sunk into the upper surface: these carpers mature into ovoid nut-like, edible achenes.
Genetic Makeup
References www.nzdl.org site with book title “Root crops” authored by Kay, D.E. (1987)
Plant Canna indica
Origin Andean region of South America
Morphological features/ Identification marks
― Roots/tubers The fleshy segmented rhizomes have segments like corms, borne in clumps, 60 cm in length. In the Andes, two clones are recognized: “Verdes” with gray-white corms and bright green foliage, and “Morados” with corms covered with violet-colored scales. The starchy rhizomes shaped from cylindrical to tapering and spherical to oval, usually ranging from 5–9 cm in diameter and from 10–15 cm in length, ringed by scale-scars and thick fibrous roots.
― Stem Perennial, herbaceous monocotyledon, variable in many characteristics, purple stems, normally 0.9–1.8 m in height, but can reach 3 m or even higher and are fleshy, arising in clumps.
― Leaf The large, broad, pointed leaves are entire, normally 30 cm long and ∼12.5 cm wide with a marked, thick midrib; often purplish beneath.
― Flower/Fruits The unisexual flowers, orange-red petals ∼5 cm long and 3 petal-like staminodes. The 3-celled capsule fruit has round black seeds.
Genetic Makeup
References www.nzdl.org site with book title “Root crops” authored by Kay, D.E. (1987)
Plant Curcuma zedoario
Origin Never been precisely determined, Northeastern India
Morphological features/ Identification marks
― Roots/tubers Ovoid tuber with several short, thick, horizontal rhizomes and also tuberous roots. The starchy finger rhizomes are greyish in color externally and have yellowish-white flesh, darkening in the center with age to a honey-brown color, 15 cm in length and 2.5 cm thick and have musky odor, with a camphoraceous note and a pungent bitter taste.
― Stem Robust perennial with fleshy, branching rhizomes; leafy or flowering shoots. The leafy shoots are up to 1 m tall and consist of a pseudostem.
― Leaf Compacted concentric leaf bases, with the true stem extending for only part of the way within. Each shoot has ~5 leaves, in two rows on opposite sides of the shoot. The leaf blades are elongated-elliptical, about 35 × 13 cm, with a purple band on each side of the midrib when young, and with close parallel-pinnate veins, usually brownish.
― Flower/Fruits Flowers are pale-yellow, borne on spikes about 15 cm tall, in clusters of 4 or 5 in the axils of bracts, which are green at the lower end of the spike, tipped with purple in the middle region, and entirely purple at the uppermost end.
Genetic Makeup
References www.nzdl.org site with book title “Root crops” authored by Kay, D.E. (1987)
Plant Psophocarpus tetragonolobus
Origin Africa (Madagascar or Mauritius)
Morphological features/ Identification marks
― Roots/tubers Shallow, persistent roots, cylindrical, with a brown, fibrous skin, up to 12 cm in length and weighing about 50 g. The flesh is white and solid, and after peeling they are eaten raw or boiled.
― Stem Climbing perennial, moderately thick stem, slightly ridged and grooved, and can reach 3–3.6 m in height.
― Leaf The leaves are trifoliate, on long, stiff petioles; leaflets are ovate, 7.5–15 cm long with the terminal leaf usually longer than the laterals and attached to the petiole by a marked pulvinus.
― Flower/Fruits The inflorescence is borne on an axillary raceme, up to 15 cm in length, with 2–10 flowers, which may be blue, white or lilac. The pods are 4-sided, with characteristic serrated wings running down the four corners. They contain 5–20 seeds which can vary in colour from white, through varying shades of yellow and brown to black, and may also be mottled.
Genetic Makeup
References www.nzdl.org site with book title “Root crops” authored by Kay, D.E. (1987)
Plant Pueraria lobata
Origin China/Japan region of eastern Asia
Morphological features/ Identification marks
― Roots/tubers Roots elongated and often tuberous, 1 m in length and 40 cm in diameter and weighing up to 40 kg, tapering, cylindrical or a variety of irregular shapes, starchy, and in both P. lobata and P. tuberosa may be 30–60 cm long, 25–30 cm in diameter and weigh 35 kg (or larger on older plants), sometimes connected to the main roots and each other by thin, stringy roots.