Manihot esculenta
Manihot grahamii
bitter cassava, cassava, manioc, tapioca
Graham's manihot, Graham's manihot or cassava, hardy tapioca
thickened.
not thickened.
erect, terete when young;
nodes conspicuously swollen;
leaf and stipule scars elevated, especially on older stems.
erect, angled when young;
nodes not swollen;
leaf and stipule scars not elevated.
persistent;
stipules lanceolate, entire;
petiole 3–20 cm;
blade basally attached, usually 3–10-lobed, sometimes unlobed, lobes without secondary lobes, median lobe 5–18 cm, margins neither thickened nor revolute, entire to ± repand, apex acuminate, surfaces glabrous or hairy, abaxial finely reticulate.
deciduous;
stipules linear, remotely serrate;
petiole 5–33 cm;
blade basally attached, 5–13-lobed, median and adjacent lobes with pair of weakly defined rounded secondary lobes distal to middle, lateral lobes without secondary lobes, median lobe 5–24 cm, margins neither thickened nor revolute, entire, apex acuminate, surface glabrous, abaxial smooth.
axillary, panicles, 2–10 cm.
axillary, panicles, to 30 cm.
staminate 2–4 mm; pistillate 20 mm in fruit, straight.
staminate 4–10 mm; pistillate 10–40 mm in fruit, straight.
calyx campanulate, 10–15 mm, lobes erect or spreading;
stamens 10.
calyx campanulate, 10–15 mm, lobes erect or spreading;
stamens 10.
1.5 cm, usually winged.
1.8 cm, smooth, not winged.
subglobose to oblong, 12 mm.
oblong, 10–12 mm.
= 36.
Manihot esculenta
Manihot grahamii
The enlarged storage roots of Manihot esculenta yield a starchy staple, now much consumed in tropical regions around the world. Tapioca, a pelletized and partially hydrolyzed form of cassava starch, is the chief form of consumption in temperate regions. Multiple cultivars are known. These are generally characterized as bitter (containing cyanogenic glycosides, which must be removed before consumption) or sweet (cyanogenic glycosides absent or at low levels). A form with variegated leaves is sometimes grown for ornament. Cassava was cultivated throughout the Neotropics in pre-Columbian times. As a root crop with poor storage qualities adapted to humid regions, archeological remains are few, leading to much speculation in the literature about the origin of this important crop. Molecular data reported by K. Olsen and B. A. Schaal (1999, 2001), indicate that cultivated cassava constitutes M. esculenta subsp. esculenta, derived by artificial selection from its sole wild ancestor, M. esculenta subsp. flabellifolia (Pohl) Ciferri from the southern border of the Amazon basin. Under this classification, all North American plants belong to subsp. esculenta.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Manihot grahamii is native to northern Argentina, southeastern Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, and is sometimes cultivated for its distinctive, attractive foliage. The flowers are relatively inconspicuous, but are much-visited by bees. This is the most cold-tolerant Manihot species; above-ground stems survive light frosts and if severe cold kills the aerial shoot system outright, new stems can regenerate from underground parts. It survives well and self-sows in garden settings as far north as tidewater Virginia; northern limits for the persistence of plants escaping from cultivation have yet to be established. In addition to characteristics noted in the key, herbarium specimens frequently exhibit contracted petiole bases.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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