''Xanthosoma brasiliense'' is a species of flowering plant in the

Araceae The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also ...

. Common names include Tahitian spinach, tannier spinach, belembe,Kays, S. J. (2011).
Cultivated Vegetables of the World: a Multilingual Onomasticon.
' Wageningen Academic Pub pg 37. and Tahitian taro.''Xanthosoma brasiliense''.
FAO Ecocrops.Wong, M
Edible plants for Hawai'i landscapes.
University of Hawai'i Cooperative Extension. May 2006. It is one of several

leaf vegetable Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, pot herbs, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender petioles and shoots. Leaf vegetables eaten raw in a salad can be called salad gre ...

s used to make

callaloo Callaloo (many spelling variants, such as kallaloo, calaloo, calalloo, calaloux or callalloo; ) is a popular Caribbean vegetable dish. There are many variants across the Caribbean, depending on the availability of local vegetables. The main in ...

, and it may be called ''calalu'' in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

.Callaloo.
Huffington Post Food Encyclopedia. This plant is a perennial herb with large leaf blades borne on long petioles up to 60 centimeters (nearly 2 feet). The plant can reach one meter (3.28 feet) in height.Manner, H. I
Farm and Forestry Production and Marketing Profile for Tannia (''Xanthosoma'' spp.).
Specialty Crops for Pacific Island Agroforestry. This plant was domesticated in the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

and it is now grown throughout tropical regions of the world. The leaves and stems are cooked and eaten as vegetables. It is cooked to remove

calcium oxalate Calcium oxalate (in archaic terminology, oxalate of lime) is a calcium salt of oxalic acid with the chemical formula . It forms hydrates , where ''n'' varies from 1 to 3. Anhydrous and all hydrated forms are colorless or white. The monohydrate ...

crystals, which are present in the leaves of

aroids The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also k ...

.Toensmeier, E. (2007).
Perennial Vegetables: From Artichoke to Zuiki Taro, a Gardener's Guide to Over 100 Delicious, Easy-to-Grow Edibles.
' Chelsea Green Publishing pg 91. Unlike some other tannia (''Xanthosoma'' spp.), the

corm A corm, bulbo-tuber, or bulbotuber is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (perennation). The word ' ...

s are not used for food because they are small and underdeveloped.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q8043117 brasiliense Leaf vegetables