have you heard of tippy tom bo?

I am guessing it is a ground tuber like a potato, someone I work with from Trinidad told me they eat a veggie called Tippytombo.
I am sure I am spelling that wrong but this is my best translation of what I am sure I heard "Tippy-tom-bo"
Does anyone know what they are refering to?
Thanks for any help

tipitambo

Google it - you will get a lot of info.

Google search for "Tipitambo".
http://www.tntisland.com/fruits.html
http://www.montosogardens.com/calathea_allouia.htm
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/1492/arrowroot.html
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=caal13
http://saintlucianplants.com/floweringplants/marantaceae/calaallo/calaallo.html
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4253741?uid=3739600&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=56211050543
http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/cropView?id=4037
http://www.greenstone.org/greenstone3/nzdl;jsessionid=A15F378ACF69C4691DC9B2E94682A503?a=d&d=HASH2ecf6c0d6958ba3c6f0ff8.33&c=cdl&sib=1&dt=&ec=&et=&p.a=b&p.s=ClassifierBrowse&p.sa=

There are more - I quit looking after about 5 minutes.

-Rich

Great a correct spelling...thanks

next question would be. Where might I find a tuber to try and start?
Anyone have any to trade?

I would ask your coworker if he has a source nearby he can buy them to eat. Some of the ethnic groceries are tiny little places and hard to find without a referral. Since it propagates by rhizome, you should be able to start a plant that way.

Nope they don't have them and have been looking for them locally.
Being from Trinidad they are not amused with our choices of foods here.
Not much I can say to them about that! When in Rome eat as the romans do?? LOL

Spelling was suggested by Google...

-Rich

Probably not. The rhizome isn't the part eaten. The edible portions are small auxiliary storage organs and they are unlikely to start new plants.

My turmerics do the same thing. The plants grow from rhizomes that have bright orange flesh, the part used in cooking, pieces of which can be used to start new plants. There are also small round storage organs formed lower in the soil profile that have light orange or yellow flesh with a much milder in aroma, that apparently have no buds capable of propagation.

-Rich

Rich, those links you posted say the tuber is also eaten.

Nicole,

Don't read too much into layman's sites and descriptions - most of them also use the word "root" when referring to rhizomes (which are underground stems, NOT roots). I used the term "storage organ" rather than "tuber" to describe the edible parts of the root because I believe these structures are like those found on turmeric. They do store carbs for the plant but they do not contain buds and hence cannot be used to propagate new plants (at least by conventional means). At least, none of mine have ever sprouted, and I have had no trouble making new starts from rhizome divisions.

But maybe I'm wrong, and you should try it if you can find any.

-Rich

I won't be trying them; my growing period isn't long enough.