Mankachu / Giant Taro
Alocasia macrorrhizos
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra & more
- Flowering
- July-November
How to identify Mankachu
Identify Mankachu by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a herb habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Huge upward-pointing arrow leaves (giant taro).
- Confirm leaf shape: Sagittate (arrowhead-shaped).
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: July-November.
- In India, compare location records such as West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Araceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Mankachu.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Alocasia macrorrhizos
- Genus
- Alocasia
- Family
- Araceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- In moist places close to water courses
- Habitat type
- Wetland
- Distribution
- Malesia to Australasia
- Found in India
- West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, Telangana
- Flowering & fruiting
- July-November
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- Sagittate (arrowhead-shaped)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Basal
Characters marked “recorded” are for Mankachu itself; the rest are typical of the Araceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Inflorescence
- Spike
Typical of the Araceae family — flowering plants only; individual species can differ.
Local Names
- Hindi
- mankachu
- Bengali
- মানকচু
- Tamil
- Merukan, Merukan kizhangu, பெருஞ்சேம்பு
- Kannada
- ಬಾಲರಾಕ್ಷ Baalaraaksha, ಮರಸಣಿಗೆ Marasanige, ಮರಸಣಿ Marasani
- Malayalam
- ആനച്ചേമ്പ്
- Marathi
- kaasaalu, madi-alum
About Mankachu
A member of the Araceae family, Giant taro (Alocasia macrorrhizos) is a herb. In India it has been recorded in West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra and 11 other states. It grows in in moist places close to water courses. Flowering and fruiting run from July to November.
Uses
Locally it is grown for parts that are eaten.
Araceae
Arum family
Mankachu belongs to the Araceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Araceae familySnap it. Know it.
Point your camera at Mankachu or any plant and SASYA identifies it instantly — on-device, offline, and private.
Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
All plant problem & care guides