The NYT has an article today about a study that finds the human genome responds to changes in diet. One line from the article says, “as the human lineage split from the chimp’s about five million years ago and started to live in open woodland, its diet may have expanded to include tubers, corms and the other underground structures in which plants store starch.”
When I read this line I was like, “what the fuck are corms?”
Comments
I had no idea taro was a corm. When I teach plant part modifications, I try to use food plants as much as possible (most people can envision an onion for a bulb) but I always hit garden flowers (crocus and gladdiolas) for corms, as I knew of no common food corms. Not that taro is a common food in rural WV, but it is a good addition to the extra credit I give for coming up with water chestnut.
Posted by: plantnerd | September 11, 2007 6:27 PM