Manihot grahamii Hook.

Hardy Tapioca; Graham's Manihot; Graham's Cassava

Tree

Perennial

Vascular

Hardy Tapioca is an introduced shrub in the Spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). It is native to Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. In Alabama it is sometimes cultivated for its unusual foliage and has been collected as an escape primarily in the southeastern portion of the state. Hardy Tapioca is a shrub to 10 feet in height, though it is often killed back to ground level by freezing weather. It often forms clumps or thickets from root sprouts. The stems are erect, glabrous, green in color, and often glaucous. The leaves are alternate, petiolate, glabrous, with the blade palmately divided into 5-16 lobes. The largest middle leaflets are weakly secondarily lobed. Both the stem and leaves release a milky latex sap when injured. Flowers are produced in terminal or axillary panicles. The panicles contain both staminate and pistillate flowers. The flowers have 5 greenish-yellow sepals marked with a purple-brown spot on their inner surface. The sepals of the staminate flowers are united for about ½ of their length, while those of the pistillate flowers are separate for their entire length. The sepals remain loosely closed so that the flowers appear to be in bud. The fruit is a globose green capsule containing 3 seed. Hardy Tapioca is closely related to Manihot esculenta, whose starchy roots are the source of manioc, cassava, yuca, and tapioca. However, both species contain toxic cyanogenic glucosides that must be removed or neutralized before consumption.--A. Diamond.

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Not Native

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