Manihot esculenta

(Bitter Cassava, Manioc)

FAMILY

Euphorbiaceae

Species

Manihot esculenta

Common name(s)

Bitter Cassava, Manioc

Flower colour; life form

Flowers green; shrub to 3 m tall

Distinguishing features

Stems brittle, latex present; leaves usually variegated, palmate, deeply divided into 3-7 lobes. Flowers in panicles or racemes, greenish; fruit a capsule, to 12 mm diameter, 6-angled, narrowly winged. Tuberous starchy roots are a source of cassava.

Manihot esculenta