Mo Yu

Amorphophallus konjac (syn. A. rivieri), devil's tongue or konjac, is a tuberous perennial of the Araceae family native to the warm temperate to subtropical forests of central and southern China and Southeast Asia. The plant produces a single very large flattened-globose underground corm that may reach twenty-five centimeters across and several kilograms in weight. From this corm arises a single solitary leaf each season borne on a tall mottled green-and-purple petiole; the leaf blade is highly divided and palmately compound, giving an umbrella-like appearance and capable of reaching over a meter in diameter. In suitable years a striking inflorescence forms instead, with a tall dark-maroon spadix surrounded by a frilled spathe that emits a strong carrion odor to attract carrion-fly pollinators before the foliage emerges.