Olluco (Ullucus tuberosus)

Family: Basellaceae | Edibility: Edible (3/5)

Ullucus tuberosus is a PERENNIAL growing to 0.3 m (1ft). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 9 and is frost tender. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs). Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Leaves, Roots/Tubers

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Fall, Spring, Winter

Flavor & Culinary Uses

taste very much like potatoes. — Starchy and mucilaginous.; The tubers can be up to 8cm long.; Ulluco is a staple food in South America, being used in most of the ways that potatoes are used, indeed when boiled and fried they taste very much like potatoes.; In the Andes a popular dish called 'chuño' is made by alternately freezing and drying the tubers.

Habitat & North American Range

Not known. (Zone 8, Zone 9, Zone 10)