This a native plant of Hawai'i. It is called taro also known as kalo. There are many uses for this plant. You can cut off the bottom bulb of the plant,replant the stem and it will grow back but just as long as you keep it in the same environment as you took it out from. With the bulb of the plant you can cook it by steaming it and then with a heavy stone known as a poi pounder, you smash it and then it becomes soft which we call poi. When smashing it you must keep it wet . It is like a rhythm, smash, smash, water, water. When it is rid of lumps it is ready to eat. You can also steam it then cut it into small chunks which is very good.

The leaves are used for something called an Imu. That is when a pig's meat is cut up and wrapped in ti-leaf and taro leaves. There are hot lava rocks which have been put in a fire to heat up and have been place in a hand dug pit.The wrapped meat is then placed on the rocks, banana stumps which are there for moisture, covered with more hot rocks, and finally covered with the soil that was dug up. Since the meat is wrapped tight in the leaves it will be kept moist and clean from any dirt. When everything is finally cooked and prepared it is time for the feast or Lu'au. Taro is a healthy plant which is extremely good for the skin. The ancient Hawaiians which lived around the lo'i or taro patch all had clear and conditioned skin. The kalo has some kind of chemical that is good for the skin and is non fattening. It is a great way of getting your carbohydrates and unlike rice or potatoes clears up your skin while making you healthy!

The taro has helped people with infections and has healed many from sicknesses. These are facts but. There are two different types of kalo. There is dry and wet land taro. Both are somewhat easy to grow. Just as long as it is taken care of and watered. There is a Hawaiian legend from long ago. It goes a like this...

A long time ago when Hawaiians worked in the fields and roamed the mountains of O'ahu there lived a couple that lived by a water pond. This pond was empty since this was before kalo was here. They were deeply in love with each other and longed to have a child. They finally decided to have a child. The wife was pregnant and had her child, a boy. He was a beautiful child and soon they had another child, a girl. They were only separated by a year so they got along very well. Both of the parents were blessed with such beautiful children that they were indeed were the luckiest parents around. One day when the son was seven and the daughter was five the son had gotten very sick and the parents did everything that they could but nothing helped. The son soon got worse and died. The parents grieved and cried but nothing would bring back their son. The father buried the son's small, limp, lifeless body the following day at the edge of the pond since the father knew that he enjoyed playing around the edge. Soon after the son died, to make things worse the daughter got sick and died. She was so young and it seemed that this was wrong to take such a life so innocent and loving that the parents were afraid to have any more children. They buried the daughter at the waters edge so that the brother and sister could keep each other company. After a couple of days two plants grew in their place and the father knew that it was them. The plant which we know as kalo. The plants were beautiful and grew as the parents aged. Then one day everything was over except for the kalo plants that were at the waters edge. They soon spread throughout the Hawaiian islands because of passing people had used it and replanted it.