I was in the grocery store last evening and wandered through the vegetable section.  A root caught my eye.  The sign said Cocoes.  It looked like an Elephant Ear root.  I picked up a small one and added it to my grocery cart.  When I checked out the tuber cost .67 cents!  (sure beats the $9.99 for one measily Elephant Ear root at the local garden centre!!!

At home I Googled  'Cocoes' and came up with another name 'Eddoes'.    Now, 'Eddoes' looked more familiar... looked even further and found it to be a variety of Colocasia esculenta.   This is getting cool,  Colocasia esculenta is the scientific name for 'Taro'.  Now it gets more interesting because Taro family belongs to the  Araceae group of plants(the Arum Family) which include such spring bloomers as the  Jack-in-the-Pulpit (which is highly toxic!)

My research finally come to head with Colocasia esculenta~ 'Black Magic' which is just another variety of Eddoes (Cocoes)----> taro--->'Black Magic'--->Elephant ears!!  By the way, esculenta is another work for edible!

All I paid was .67 cents for a tuber that is twice the size of the ones offered by mail order nurseries, which list theirs at $9.99 (not including taxes, shipping and handling)!!!

So, if you would like to grow EE's, without breaking the bank, go to your local grocery store and pick up a tuber of two for a bit more then a dollar!!

...and if you ever get tired of your EE's you can always serve them up for a meal!!

I planted my tuber in a 12" pot this afternoon.  It was recommended to keep it indoors until it either sends up a sprout or the night time temp stays above 65!