Preface

Acknowledgements

List of Figures

List of Tables

PART 1
FINDING THE TRAIL

Chapter One   Introduction (Some Help From the Ancestors)

Chapter Two   Notice to Archaeologists Recording Taro Sites

Chapter Three   Taro in the Bay of Islands

PART 2
COLOCASIA ESCULENTA IN NEW ZEALAND: NGA TARO O AOTEAROA

Chapter Four   New Zealand Historical Context and Present Aims

Chapter Five   Taxonomy and General Observations

Chapter Six   Cytology

Chapter Seven   Distribution

Chapter Eight   Historical Implications and Future Research

PART 3
THE ORIGINS, DISPERSAL, AND DOMESTICATION OF TARO

Chapter Nine   Taro in Prehistory

Chapter Ten   General Materials and Methods

Chapter Eleven   Preliminary Trials of Methods for Analysing Variation

Chapter Twelve   The Nor-Locus Ribosomal DNA Repeat Unit of C. esculenta

Chapter Thirteen   C. esculenta (Taro) as Homogeneous Taxon

Chapter Fourteen   Nor-Locus rDNA Variation in C. esculenta

Chapter Fifteen   Origins and Antiquity of Diploid Taro in Australia and New Guinea, and Triploid Taro in Asia

Chapter Sixteen   Origins, Dispersal, and Domestication

PART 4
NATURAL AND CULTURAL HISTORY

Chapter Seventeen   General Trends in Taro Research

Chapter Eighteen   Historical Themes

References

APPENDICES

1. Early correspondence

2. New Zealand taro site records

3. Auckland Taro Collection

4. Specimens of Colocasia in New Zealand herbaria

5. Leaf sample sites and descriptions

6. Leaf morphology

7. Aweu, a wild taro in Hawai'i

8. Flowering in New Zealand and Hawai'i

9. Māori naming of taro

10. Cytology

11. Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase

12. Earliest European description of taro in Queensland, Australia

13. Specimens of Colocasia spp. seen in European Herbaria

14. Poorly defined and poorly known species of Colocasia

15. Canberra Taro Collection

16. Records of wild taro in Papua New Guinea, 1936 to 1985

17. Records of wild taro in Australia, 1770 to 1989

18. R. Tucker correspondence

19. Frequently used stock solutions

20. General survey of rDNA variation in taro

21. Sampling protocol for wild taro survey

22. Field guide for wild-type taro, C. esculenta (L.) Schott

23. Two taros from Japan: Ishikawa-wase and Tonoimo

INDEX