Cassava, tapioca, manioc, yuca

Description:

The plant is an important crop throughout the tropics, grown for its starchy tubers and in some places for its leaves. It is thought to be originally from the Amazon basin. It is very easy to propagate from stem cuttings. Its spread throughout the tropics is a prime example of the Columbian Exchange and is certainly coupled with the Atlantic Slave Trade.

Habitat:

This specimen seen in Singapore, where it grows wild in scrublands and forest edges.

Notes:

Called tapioca in Singapore. It is found all over in scrublands and forest edges. During WW2 the Japanese appropriated all the rice. Singaporeans planted tapioca everywhere as a famine food. Like many cultures who experience oppression--the foods of the time can take on a bittersweet nostalgia (think frybread for Native Americans). The starchy root is prepared in a variety of ways all over the tropics. Leaves are a main ingredient in the favorite palaver sauce (plasas) of Sierra Leone where the plant is called cassava (the introduction of the plant into Sierra Leone has links to the Atlantic slave trade). We've also had leaves prepared in Malay and Filipino styles. I frequently used the plant as a middle school subject of study because it is so easy to propagate from cuttings. The plant is originally from tropical America (manioc).