The source is "New Materia Medica": There are 6 kinds of taro...white taro, true taro, Zen taro and purple taro. They are less poisonous and can be eaten by steaming and cooking. They should also be eaten cold to treat heat. Quench your thirst. The purple taro called here is this species.
Pinyin name Zǐ Yu
Also known as water taro, wild taro, southeastern taro, tiger cantonese
Source
Medicinal material source: It is the tuber and leaves of the Araceae plant Purple Taro.
Latin plant, animal and mineral name: Colocasia tonoimo Nakai [C. antiuorum Schottf. Purpurea Maklno]
Harvesting and storage: Leaves collected in spring and summer, used fresh or sun-dried. Dig the tubers after autumn, wash them, use them fresh or slice them and dry them in the sun.
Purple taro in its original form is a perennial herb. The tubers are thick. Lateral corms, obovate, with brown fibrous roots on the surface. Leaves 1-5, grown from the top of the tuber, 1-1.2m high; petioles are cylindrical, tapering upward, purple-brown; leaves are shield-shaped, egg-shaped, arrow-shaped, 40-50cm long, 25-30cm wide, dark green , with a curved base at the base, thick lateral veins, and wavy edges. The inflorescence stalk is single, the exposed part is 12-15cm long and 1cm thick, the apex is stained green, and the rest is the same color as the petiole. The spathe tube is 4.5-7.5cm long, 2-2.7cm thick, green or purple, constricted upward; the eaves are thick, sweeping into an angle, 19-20cm long, golden yellow, open in front of the base, about 5cm long. Thickness 1.5-2.5cm; spadix unisexual; base female inflorescence 3-4.5cm long, 1.2cm thick, ovary green, slightly laterally flattened, stigma umbilical protruding, yellow-green, 4-5 lobed, L chamber, between the ovary are mixed with rod-shaped sterile neutral flowers, yellow, truncated; male inflorescences are 3.5-5.7cm long, 6-8mm thick, male flowers are yellow; appendages are angular, 2cm long, 0.4cm thick, with fine Fluted. Flowering period is July-September.
Habitat distribution: It is cultivated in Guizhou, Yunnan and other places in my country.
Pungent in nature and cold in nature
Indications: Dispersing knots and reducing swelling; dispelling wind and detoxifying. Mainly used to treat mastitis, nameless swelling, urticaria, boils, aphthous ulcers, and burns.
Usage and dosage: Oral administration: decoction, 15-30g. External use: appropriate amount, pound and apply.
Excerpt from "Chinese Materia Medica"