Guinea Arrowroot Plant

The Guinea Arrowroot Plant is an extremely rare edible that grows crisp underground tubers with a flavour reminiscent of freshly cooked sweet corn. Moreover, the tubers stay crisp even after boiling. Together, these qualities give it one of its most memorable common names: sweet corn root.

Guinea Arrowroot Plant in Amazonian kitchen gardens

Indigenous growers in tropical America have cultivated this perennial for centuries. For example, families in the Brazilian Amazon once grew it in kitchen gardens and served the boiled tubers with coffee. That pairing offers a glimpse into how this little-known vegetable fit into everyday life.

Try the cooked tubers warm on their own. Alternatively, slice them into a salad for extra crunch. These small, oval tubers are typically 2–8 cm long. Above ground, broad green leaves give the plant a lush, tropical look.

How to grow the Guinea Arrowroot Plant

First, give this tropical perennial a warm, sheltered spot with dappled light. Next, choose rich, well-draining soil, and water regularly to keep it evenly moist. In addition, protect it from frost and cold winds. In cooler areas, therefore, use a roomy container you can move undercover as temperatures drop.

Allow around 9–14 months for a crop, depending on growing conditions. Then, when you lift the plant, look for the small tubers among the roots. For another tropical edible, grow our Pandan Plant nearby and harvest its fragrant leaves to flavour rice and desserts.

Botanical name and common names

The accepted botanical name is Goeppertia allouia. However, you may also recognise it as Calathea allouia in older growing guides.

Common and regional names include Guinea arrowroot, sweet corn root (sweetcorn root), cornroot, sweet corn-tuber, allouya (allouya tubers), leren (lerén, llerén, lerenes, lienrenes), topee tambu (topee-tambo, topeetampo, topi-tamboo, topi-tambu, topitambo, topitamboo, tokee tambo, tambu), topinambour (topinambur, topinambour blanc, topinambour des Antilles, tapee nambour, toupie nambours), agua bendita, cocurito, dale dale (daledale, dali dali), ariá (batata-ariá), láirem (lairé, lairén, laren), alléluia (alleluia, allelouia, alleluya, alluia), curcuma d’Amérique, caeté, variá, batata-de-índio, chufle, bihao, bijagua, bijao, hoja de sal, lerene, sewi, yairén, yerén, marosa, cúrcuma, faldita morada, guapo, maranta, plantanillo, sagú, rizomas de ariá, yuquilla, and Guinea-Korbmaranthe.