#HardyTapioca hashtag - Bluesky

@tkg-nc.bsky.social

5 months ago

<Alt Text 1 of 3> Today’s plant is all about its unique foliage, the botanical latin name for this plant is (Manihot grahamii) and it is in the Euphorbiaceae family which means it’s related to Fire on the Mountain and Poinsettias. In some older publications this plant has a few synonym botanical latin names such as; Janipha loeflingii var. multifida, Manihot dulcis var. multifida, Manihot enneaphylla, Manihot lobata, Manihot loeflingii, Manihot loeflingii var. multifida, Manihot palmata var. multifida, Manihot tweedieana, Manihot tweedieana var. lobatam and, Manihot tweedieana f. nana. So in short this plant has been around long enough to rack up a lot of alternate Latin names. This plant which is a perennial in our area is commonly called Hardy Tapioca, and that name is indicative. Hardy Tapioca originates in South America specifically Southern Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina, but it has done ok right here in zone 8b. While it is not the source of the Tapioca pearls found in Tapioca Pudding, Boba Tea, or Coconut Milk Beverages it is closely related to the true edible Tapioca (Manihot esculenta). I have to mention here, that the edible Tapioca is also called Cassava, and the part you eat is the starchy roots. If you should ever decide to try your hand at growing Cassava/Tapioca remember, there are two types of Cassava, one that is sweet and one that is bitter. <Alt Text 1 of 3>

<Alt Text 2 of 3> The bitter one is exclusively used for starch extraction. Hardy Tapioca in comparison is largely unpalatable and noted to be mildly toxic. Hardy Tapioca looks like its edible cousin, has similar flowers and similar little fruits but it’s hardy in the USA from zones 7b through 11 according to the USDA. Some nurseries like Cistus say it’s only hardy to zone 8. Whereas Plant Delights says Hardy Tapioca is hardy in 7b to 10b. In the plant trade with plants that are semi-tropical you’re going to see some difference of opinion on the hardiness of a given plant. This is because of two reasons, the aforementioned nurseries may be consulting different sources to get different numbers and also because sometimes they shave a little off the ends of the USDA zone ranges. Taking a little bit off the range lowers the chance a gardener might plant their specimen a bit too far out of the range it does best in. <Alt Text 2 of 3>

<Alt Text 3 of 3> [Photo credit: By SAplants - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=149272297 ] In our zone which is 8B, this plant is herbaceous, meaning it dies back to the ground unless the winter is super-mild. We’ve only had one super-mild winter that I can recall in the last fifteen years roughly speaking so you should be prepared to see it die back leaving sticks kind of like Cotton Rose (Hibiscus mutabilis) leaves behind in winter. Since this plant isn’t known for its flowers being especially fancy, the foliage which almost resembles an ornamental fan does make it stand out amongst garden plants. That it is essentially a tropical that doesn’t need replacing in Zone 8 is a big bonus. However plants can grow as much as ten feet tall in our climate as they get bigger every year up until a certain point. A pretty cool feature of this plant is its seed pods; if they dry out without bursting I’ve read that they rattle in the wind. However all sources indicate they have a spring loaded mechanism that causes them to burst and fling the seed inside the pod several feet. This bursting is audible and triggered by the slightest touch or nearby disturbance but it is also a dispersal mechanism that you can find a lot fo examples of in the plant kingdom. Impatiens, Squirting Cucumbers, Sweet Peas, Wood Sorrel, are just a few well-known examples of plants with this feature. I have to make mention of one of the largest members of the Euphorbia family, the Sandbox Tree (Hura crepitans) which has exploding seed pods and can lob its seed at 160 miles per hour. Thankfully you won’t have to worry about seeds being flung at you at those speeds if you plant a Hardy Tapioca, but folks wondering where you got the plant and pestering you for cuttings may be another issue entirely. <Alt Text 3 of 3>

The Wild Harvest Digest: October 2025, #5

Good Morning Neighbors,

Today’s plant of the week is one that you really don’t see in gardens that often. Yes, I know I say that fairly often however this time I really mean it. #HardyTapioca #Cassava

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