ELEPHANT YAM FLOWER

ELEPHANT YAM FLOWER

                        This is the flower of elephant yam. It gives bad smell during flowering.Elephant yam is a striking aroid with a flower spike crowned with a bulbous maroon knob and encircled by a fleshy maroon and green-blotched bract. The solitary leaf, which emerges after the flowering parts, resembles a small tree. Elephant yam has been in cultivation throughout tropical Asia for centuries. It has been widely transported by humans and easily escapes from cultivation to become naturalized, so that its natural distribution is not clear. Perennial herb. A single inflorescences produced, followed by a solitary leaf. After the growing season, this dies back to an underground storage organ . Tuber Dark brown, flattened-globe-shaped, up to 50 × 30 cm with prominent root scars. Weighing up to about 15 kg. Leaves usually one per tuber. Petiole  up to 2 m tall and 20 cm in diameter with rough, warty surface. Background colour pale to dark green or blackish-green with pale blotches and numerous tiny dark dots. Leaf blade up to 3 m in diameter and deeply divided into segments. Leaflets up to 35 × 12 cm.Spadix Up to 70 cm long. The lowermost portion of the spadix is female and is covered with pistils Each pistil consists of a pale green or maroon ovary with a maroon stalk and two- or three-lobed yellow head .The next floral zone is male and contains tightly-packed yellowish stamens. At the tip of the spadix is a bulbous, dark maroon, rounded to deeply wrinkled appendix. Spathe  Bell-shaped, broader than long, up to 45 × 60 cm, pale green to dark brown with paler blotches on exterior. Opening outwards to form a frilled, glossy maroon, collar-like structure around the spadix. Basal portion of interior pale green-yellow. Elephant yam is widely cultivated for its edible tubers, which are an important source of carbohydrate in India and Indonesia and a valued secondary crop throughout tropical Asia. It can be found on sale further afield (including Hounslow, not far from Kew in the UK) in international food markets. Elephant yam has medicinal properties and is used in many Ayurvedic (traditional Hindu) preparations. The tubers are considered to have pain-killing, anti-inflammatory, anti-flatulence, digestive, aphrodisiac, rejuvenating and tonic properties. They are traditionally used in the treatment of a wide range of conditions including parasitic worms, inflammation, coughs, flatulence, constipation, anemia, hemorrhoids and fatigue.