Cyrtosperma merkusii or giant swamp taro, is a crop grown throughout Oceania and into South and Southeast Asia.

It is a riverine and "swamp crop" similar to taro,[1] but "with bigger leaves and larger, coarser roots.

It is known as puraka in Cook Islands, lak in Yap (Federated States of Micronesia), babai in Kiribati, iaraj in the Marshall Islands, brak in Palau, babaʻ in the Marianas Islands, pula’a in Samoa, via kana, Pulaka in Lau, Lovo in Fiji, pulaka in Tokelau and Tuvalu, mwahng in Pohnpei, pasruk in Kosrae, simiden in Chuuk, swam taro in Papua New Guinea, navia in Vanuatu[3] and palawan in the Philippines.

[4] In the harsh atoll environments of the Central Pacific, especially Tuvalu and Kiribati, swamp taro is an important source of carbohydrates in a diet dominated by fish and coconut.

[12] is starchy and cream or pink in colour, with a taste similar to sweet potato, though it is drier in texture.

[14] In the Philippines, giant swamp taro is known as palawan (or palauan), palaw (or palau), or payaw (also applied to Homalomena philippinensis).

It may be field stored in the ground for very long periods – up to 30 years or more – and accordingly has traditionally been an important emergency crop in times of natural disaster and food scarcity.

It is left to grow for years and signs that it has enough corms when the mother stems have fewer leaves and it has reached a sizable size with tubers.