Bored of Potatoes, Try Edible Canna Indica
Other names — African arrowroot/Purple arrowroot
Looking for a starch replacement, check out tropical edible Canna — Edulis/Indica. These perennial plants grow quickly in borders or close to wetlands; they take 6–12 months to mature. You can spot them by their radiant red, yellowish petals with green broad banana-like leaves. Cannas adore full sun and tolerate drought/wet soils.
The rhizomes are the heart of these edible plants — similar to arrowroot starch; considered healthy food — eaten raw or cooked, they too can be turned to flour. When raw, they taste like daikon with a hint of heat. A source of food during the Great Chinese Famine.
Best propagated by division of clumps, otherwise rhizomes/seeds. Indica multiplies freely compared to Edulis. Their black seeds replaced bullets in the 19th-century Indian Mutiny, hence the name — ‘Indian Shot.’
By Ching Ching
