arrowroot
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Related to arrowroots: Maranta arundinacea
arrowroot
arrowroot, any plant of the genus Maranta, usually large perennial herbs, of the family Marantaceae, found chiefly in warm, swampy forest habitats of the Americas and sometimes cultivated for their ornamental leaves. The term arrowroot is also used for the easily digestible starch obtained from the rhizomes of M. arundinacea, the true, or West Indian, arrowroot, which is naturalized in Florida. Other plants produce similar starches, e.g., East Indian arrowroot (from Curcuma angustifolia of the Zingiberaceae, or ginger family), Queensland arrowroot (from a canna of the family Cannaceae), Brazilian arrowroot, or tapioca, of the Euphorbiaceae (spurge family), and Florida arrowroot, or sago. True arrowroot is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Zingiberales, family Marantaceae.
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arrowroot
[′ar·ō‚rüt] (botany)
Any of the tropical American plants belonging to the genus Maranta in the family Marantaceae.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
arrowroot
1. a white-flowered West Indian plant, Maranta arundinacea, whose rhizomes yield an easily digestible starch: family Marantaceae
2. any of several other plants whose rhizomes or roots yield starch
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005