Species
+

Manihot esculenta Crantz

Ai

Climate known 46 photographs
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Manihot esculenta, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca, is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions as an annual crop for its edible starchy tuberous root. Cassava is predominantly consumed in boiled form, but substantial quantities are processed to extract cassava starch, called tapioca, which is used for food, animal feed, and industrial purposes. The Brazilian farofa, and the related garri of West Africa, is an edible coarse flour obtained by grating cassava roots, pressing moisture off the obtained grated pulp, and finally drying and roasting it.

Text from Wikipedia, “Cassava”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Manihot

Manihot is a genus in the diverse milkspurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It was described as a genus in 1754.

Text from Wikipedia, “Manihot”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Euphorbiaceae
Described by
Crantz
Native to
Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador +6
Wild records
623 in range· 516 open

At a glance

Warmest month
29°C
Feb, mean day; nights 22 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
1761mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Mar 204 mm (CHELSA)
Light
27–35DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: a sharp rainy season, October to April at the habitat (not shifted); the temperature curve is flat (2.1 °C of range), so no growing season is inferred. Habitat rain 1761 mm a year, wettest March at 204 mm, driest August at 73 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 27 to 35 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 15.5 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Janipha aipi (Pohl) J.Presl; Janipha manihot (L.) Kunth; Jatropha aipi (Pohl) A.Moller; Jatropha aipi (Pohl) Göpp.; Jatropha diffusa (Pohl) Steud. and 45 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a sharp rainy season, October to April at the habitat (not shifted); the temperature curve is flat (2.1 °C of range), so no growing season is inferred.

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a sharp season: 70% of the year's rain (1255 mm of 1761 mm) falls in October to April. The temperature curve is flat, 2.1 °C between the warmest and coldest month, so the growing-season rule does not infer a growing season from it. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere, within 10° of the equator; with no thermal season there there is no season to reverse, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 1761 mm a year, wettest March at 204 mm, driest August at 73 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

1761 mm a year at the habitat, 1255 mm of it October to April. Wettest month March at 204 mm, driest August at 73 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 1064 mm to 3384 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 27 to 35 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 27 to 35 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 22, the highest 90th-percentile month 40).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 15.5 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 15.5 °C, the absolute minimum 7.7 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 40.0 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 19.5 °C in July (across the envelope cells 12.5 °C to 22.9 °C), warmest day 29.2 °C in February (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 15.5 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 63 to 66% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 27 °C in Jun to 29 °C in Feb; mean night from 20 °C in Jul to 22 °C in Feb. The cold quarter, Jun to Aug, is the three months around the coldest night. 1761 mm of rain a year, most in Mar. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 550 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 7.7 °C and the 99th-percentile day 40.0 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°20°30°40°50°40.0° 99th-percentile day (undated)7.7° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400mm rainDLI 27–35RH 63–66 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 550 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C29 / 23–3229 / 24–3229 / 24–3229 / 23–3028 / 22–3027 / 21–3027 / 21–3028 / 22–3229 / 22–3229 / 23–3229 / 23–3129 / 23–31
Night °C22 / 16–2422 / 16–2422 / 16–2422 / 16–2421 / 14–2420 / 13–2320 / 13–2320 / 13–2321 / 14–2322 / 15–2322 / 16–2422 / 16–24
Rain mm169 / 29–339171 / 45–314204 / 86–343183 / 88–377149 / 35–395103 / 9–38382 / 6–33273 / 10–28899 / 26–283164 / 37–316188 / 42–290176 / 47–323
DLI34 / 29–4034 / 29–3933 / 29–3730 / 26–3428 / 23–3227 / 22–3329 / 23–3532 / 27–3834 / 29–4035 / 28–4034 / 27–4033 / 28–40
RH %65 / 58–7165 / 58–7165 / 60–7166 / 60–7266 / 57–7265 / 54–7364 / 51–7263 / 49–7263 / 51–7164 / 56–7266 / 59–7266 / 59–71

Each figure is the median across the 550 grid cells holding the 619 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 2032:2376 (-11.625, -61.175). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 7.7 °C, 1st-percentile night 15.5 °C, 99th-percentile day 40.0 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 550 distinct grid cells holding the 619 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2032:2376 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -11.50_-61.250, lapse-corrected -27 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 207 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeBolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil West-Central, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil North, Brazil South· introduced: Italy, Benin, Burkina, Gambia, The, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Senegal, Togo, Central African Republic, Gabon, Gulf of Guinea Is., Rwanda, Zaïre, Chad, Ethiopia, Sudan, Angola, Mozambique, Comoros, Madagascar, China South-Central, Hainan, China Southeast, Taiwan, Assam, Bangladesh, East Himalaya, India, Andaman Is., Cambodia, Nicobar Is., Thailand, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Sulawesi, Christmas I., Bismarck Archipelago, Fiji, Gilbert Is., Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Wallis-Futuna Is., Cook Is., Line Is., Marquesas, Society Is., Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Caroline Is., Marianas, Marshall Is., Hawaii, Texas, Alabama, Florida, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Bahamas, Bermuda, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Is. AB Ant, Puerto Rico, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Is., Venezuela
Kew's description“tuberous shrub or tree” · “seasonally dry tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker9.75, -75.167 · in the densest population, 134 records (22% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 623 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 516 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 405 km away. 517 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 4 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 2° block of the 623 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Manihot esculentaManihot esculentaManihot esculentaManihot esculentaManihot esculentaManihot esculentaManihot esculentaManihot esculenta

Photographs: no rights reserved · CC0 (2); (c) Gabriel, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); (c) Sindhu Haridas, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Mark Richman, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Ong Jyh Seng, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Manihot esculenta, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Draft genome sequence of the oilseed species Ricinus communis
Agnes P. Chan, Jonathan Crabtree, Qi Zhao, Hernán Lorenzi (2010) · Nature Biotechnology
Evidence on the origin of cassava: Phylogeography of Manihot esculenta
Kenneth M. Olsen, Barbara A. Schaal (1999) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Sequencing wild and cultivated cassava and related species reveals extensive interspecific hybridization and genetic diversity
Jessen V. Bredeson, Jessica B. Lyons, Simon Prochnik, G Albert Wu (2016) · Nature Biotechnology
The evolutionary ecology of clonally propagated domesticated plants
Doyle McKey, Marianne Élias, Benoît Pujol, Anne Duputié (2010) · New Phytologist
Origin and Domestication of Native Amazonian Crops
Charles R. Clément, Michelly de Cristo-Araújo, Géo Coppens D'Eeckenbrugge, Alessandro Alves‐Pereira (2010) · Diversity
The BioCassava Plus Program: Biofortification of Cassava for Sub-Saharan Africa
Richard T. Sayre, J.R. Beeching, Edgar B. Cahoon, Chiedozie Egesi (2011) · Annual Review of Plant Biology
Tuber Storage Proteins
Peter R. Shewry (2003) · Annals of Botany
Cassava haplotype map highlights fixation of deleterious mutations during clonal propagation
Punna Ramu, Williams Esuma, R. Kawuki, Ismail Rabbi (2017) · Nature Genetics
Condensed tannins: A factor limiting the use of cassava forage
Jess D. Reed, Rober T. E. McDowell, P.J. Van Soest, Pete R. J. Horvath (1982) · Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 102 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.