Shakarkand / Tapioca
Manihot esculenta
Also known as Cassava
- Habit
- Shrub
- Found in India
- Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram & more
- Flowering
- February-December
How to identify Shakarkand
Identify Shakarkand by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a shrub habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Cultivated for starchy edible tuberous roots (cassava).
- Confirm leaf margin: Lobed.
- Confirm leaf surface: Glabrous (smooth, hairless).
- Confirm flower colour: Green.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: February-December.
- In India, compare location records such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram, Telangana and nearby regions.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Manihot esculenta
- Genus
- Manihot
- Family
- Euphorbiaceae
- Habit
- Shrub
- Habitat
- Cultivated
- Habitat type
- Cultivated
- Native to
- Brazil
- Distribution
- Cultivated in most parts of the world
- Found in India
- Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Goa, Puducherry, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand
- Flowering & fruiting
- February-December
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf margin
- LobedrecordedThe edge is divided into rounded or pointed sections that don't reach the midrib.“Cassava has alternately arranged, palmately lobed leaves each with three to seven lobes.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf surface
- Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Shakarkand itself; the rest are typical of the Euphorbiaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- GreenrecordedGreen or greenish
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Capsule
Characters marked “recorded” are for Shakarkand itself; the rest are typical of the Euphorbiaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- शकरकंद Shakarkand, kappa
- Bengali
- শিমুল আলু
- Tamil
- Maravallikkilanku, Allvalli kizhangu, மரவள்ளி
- Telugu
- Karrapendalamu, కర్ర పెండలం
- Kannada
- ಕಣಗಲ Kanagala, ಮರಗೆಣಸು mara genasu, ಬಱಗಾಲದಗೆಡ್ಡೆ baragaalada gedde
- Malayalam
- Kollikkilannu, Maraccini, Marakkilannu
- Marathi
- prochugaali chine, pavde-pharin
About Shakarkand
Tapioca (Manihot esculenta) is a shrub in the Euphorbiaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram and 19 other states. It is cultivated. Flowering and fruiting run from February to December.
Uses
Locally it is grown for parts that are eaten, stripped for fibre used in rope and matting and a source of dye or tannin. Parts of this plant are reported as poisonous — treat it as unsafe to eat and wash your hands after handling.
In culture
It carries a body of folklore around it.
Euphorbiaceae
Spurge/Euphorbia family
Shakarkand belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
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