Flowers, either blue or white, and pods similar to peas, are produced on fully developed plants.

The heaviest jícama root ever recorded weighed 23 kg (51 lb) and was found in 2010 in the Philippines.

[4] Jícama is frost-tender and requires nine months without frost for a good harvest of large tubers or to grow it commercially.

It is worth growing in cooler areas that have at least five months without frost, as it will still produce tubers, but they will be smaller.

In Ecuador and Peru, the name jícama is used for the unrelated yacón or Peruvian ground apple, a sunflower family plant whose tubers are also used as food.

[7] Spaniards spread the cultivation of jícama from Mexico to the Philippines (where it is known as singkamas, from Nahuatl xicamatl),[8] from there it went to China and other parts of Southeast Asia, where notable uses of raw jícama include popiah, bola-bola (meatballs) and fresh lumpia in the Philippines, and salads in Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia such as yusheng and rojak.

In the Philippines, it is usually eaten fresh with condiments, such as rice vinegar and sprinkled with salt or with bagoong (shrimp paste).

[3] The root's exterior is yellow and papery, while its inside is creamy white with a crisp texture that resembles raw potato or pear.

It is also often paired with chili powder, cilantro, ginger, lemon, lime, orange, red onion, salsa, sesame oil, grilled fish, and soy sauce.

In a 100-gram (3.5 oz) reference amount, it supplies 38 calories and is a rich source of vitamin C, with no other micronutrients in significant content (table).