Cassava is a tropical shrub native to Brazil that has become a staple root crop across the warm world, prized for its starchy, elongated tuberous roots that yield tapioca, starch, and countless food products. Growing 6 to 10 feet tall with distinctive palmately lobed, medium-green leaves, cassava thrives in USDA Zones 10-12 where it grows year-round as an evergreen. In cooler regions (Zones 8-9), gardeners can treat it as an annual, though the plant needs 8-9 months of frost-free weather to develop roots worth harvesting. Its milky sap and architectural foliage make it as striking in the landscape as it is productive in the kitchen.
Partial Sun
Moderate
10-12
120in H x 120in W
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Moderate
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Cassava delivers dual appeal: it's a genuinely beautiful tropical shrub with deeply lobed leaves and seasonal flowers, plus a serious food producer that rewards patient gardeners with abundant starchy roots. The plant tolerates both deer and rabbit pressure, rarely troubled by serious pests or diseases beyond occasional red spider mites. In Zones 10-12, you get an evergreen perennial that produces for years; elsewhere, plant it as an annual and harvest after 8-9 months of growth for the year's starch supply.
Cassava roots are harvested and processed into tapioca, cassava starch, cassava flour, and gari (fermented cassava granules). The roots can be boiled, fried, roasted, or mashed, or ground into flour for baking. In many cultures, cassava leaves are also eaten as a nutritious green vegetable. The starch extracted from the roots is used in countless food products and industrial applications, making cassava useful both for fresh consumption and long-term storage as processed starch.
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In Zones 10-12, plant cassava in spring after soil has warmed and all frost danger has passed. Space plants 6-10 feet apart in full sun to partial shade. In Zones 8-9, plant after the last spring frost date to maximize the 8-9 month growing season needed for root development.
Cassava roots are ready to harvest after 8-9 months of frost-free growth. In Zones 10-12, you can harvest year-round once the plant is established, or wait until the foliage begins to decline for maximum starch content. Carefully dig around the plant to expose the stout, elongated tuberous roots, then harvest by hand or with a spade. Roots can be left in the ground in tropical climates and harvested as needed, or lifted and stored after the main growing season.
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“Native to Brazil, cassava represents one of the world's great food crop migrations. What began as a regional staple was carried by traders and travelers to tropical regions worldwide, where it took root so thoroughly that many gardeners today assume it originated elsewhere. The plant's adaptability to diverse tropical soils and its generous yields made it a lifeline crop across Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, feeding millions while remaining largely invisible to gardeners in cooler climates. Its journey from Brazilian forest to global staple reflects both the power of plant exchange and cassava's quiet reliability as a food source.”