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Cassava

Habit (mature) - Dick Culbert / Wikimedia Commons - CC BY 2.0

Limited coverage

Cassava

Manihot esculenta

A fast-growing tropical woody shrub grown for its swollen, starchy storage roots — cassava, the mandioca of Brazil and one of the great staple foods of the tropical world. POWO (Kew) and Flora e Funga do Brasil record Manihot esculenta as native to and first domesticated in Brazil and the southern Amazon, the homeland of mandioca, manioc and tapioca. It forms a slender, upright shrub of palmately-lobed leaves on often red-tinged, jointed stems, and below ground it swells a cluster of long tuberous roots that are harvested, peeled and cooked. HONESTY (load-bearing): cassava is one of the most important food crops of the tropics, but the raw roots AND leaves contain cyanogenic glycosides (linamarin) and are TOXIC if eaten raw or under-processed — they must be peeled and properly cooked, and bitter varieties soaked and/or fermented, to drive off the cyanide before they are safe to eat. It is frost-tender (roughly USDA zone 9b and up) and drought-tolerant once established, which is exactly why it is such a dependable famine-insurance crop across the warm tropics.

Climate fit: narrow (27/100)

Edible

Structure

Light

Full sun

Water

Moderate water

Mature size

60-120" tall · 36" apart

Hardy in zones

9b-11b

frosty to nearly frost-free winters

Native in Illinois

EDIBLE ONLY AFTER PROPER PROCESSING — this is load-bearing.

°C

°F

Cold hardiness

Future

2050

2100

These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.

Now

Zone 6b

USDA

Published baseline for this location from 1991-2020.

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer

Won't grow here

2050

Zone 7a

Plotwright

Projected zone for this same location in 2050 (2041-2070) using SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry).

Won't grow here

In plain terms: This location is in Zone 6b today. Its hardiness profile is cold winters, and coldest nights are typically around -3°F. By 2050, the projected hardiness zone is Zone 7a based on SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry). That is a +0.5-zone shift from Zone 6b to Zone 7a by 2050.

Out of range today and still out of range in 2050.

Heat tolerance

Future

2050

2100

Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.

Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 25 ecoregions — 18 climate-resilient through 2070 · 7 newly possible by 2070. Best matches first.

Arizona Mountains forests

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Atlantic coastal pine barrens

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California coastal sage and chaparral

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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

Eastern Australian temperate forests

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Fynbos shrubland

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Klamath-Siskiyou forests

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Mississippi lowland forests

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What it needs

Conditions

Light

Full sun

Water

Moderate water

Spacing

36"

Habit

Fast-growing woody shrub with palmately-lobed leaves on often red-tinged, jointed stems, grown for its swollen starchy storage roots — cassava / mandioca, a global staple. It is frost-tender (roughly USDA 9b and up) and drought-tolerant once established. HONESTY (load-bearing): one of the most important food crops of the tropics, but the raw roots AND leaves contain cyanogenic glycosides (linamarin) and are TOXIC if eaten raw or under-processed — they must be peeled and properly cooked (and bitter varieties soaked and/or fermented) to drive off the cyanide before eating.

Care tips

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Grow it only where it is frost-free (roughly USDA 9b and up) and give it full sun and a long, hot season — top growth is killed by frost and it needs the warmth to size up a worthwhile root crop.

•

Propagate from sections of mature woody stem pushed into warm soil at the start of the season, not from seed, and replant fresh cuttings each cycle to keep the crop vigorous.

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Treat processing as non-negotiable: peel and thoroughly cook every root and leaf, and soak and/or ferment bitter varieties, to remove the cyanide before eating — never sample any part raw.

Lifecycle

Planting

Plant only where it is frost-free — roughly USDA zone 9b and up — in full sun in loose, well-drained soil, propagating from sections of mature woody stem (not seed) pushed into warm soil at the start of the growing season. Space plants about 3 feet apart; it tolerates poor soil and drought once established, which is much of its value as a staple.

Transplanting

Grown from stem cuttings set directly where they are to crop rather than transplanted — the cuttings root in place. If you must move a young plant, do it while small and in warm weather, but the normal practice is simply to take and replant fresh cuttings.

Early growth

Cuttings sprout and grow quickly in warm soil, putting up jointed leafy stems while the storage roots begin to thicken below ground; keep it in full sun, water through any prolonged drought while establishing, and it then largely looks after itself.

Maturity

Reaches a 5-10 foot leafy shrub with a cluster of long, swollen, starchy roots that can be lifted from about 8-12 months (sweet types) to a year or more (bitter types). Many growers leave the roots in the ground and harvest as needed — but every root and leaf must be peeled and properly cooked (bitter kinds also soaked and/or fermented) to remove the cyanide before eating.

Propagation

Propagated vegetatively from sections of mature woody stem, each with several nodes, pushed into warm soil — the standard and reliable method; seed is used only in breeding. Replant fresh cuttings each cycle to keep the crop vigorous.