![]() Maca today is still mainly cultivated in Peru, in the high Andes of Bolivia, and to a small extent also in Brazil. Strong winds and sunlight also are characteristics of the native habitat of the maca. Of the cultivated plants, maca is one of the most frost tolerant. Temperatures can decline, however, as low as −10 ☌ (14 ☏) and frosts are common. At this elevation, temperatures of the growing season vary from −2 to 13 ☌ (28 to 55 ☏) in monthly mean minimum or maximum, respectively. The natural environment of the maca is at 11-12ºS latitude and at an elevation of 3,800–4,400 m (12,500–14,400 ft) above sea level. Black maca is both sweet and slightly bitter in taste.Ĭultivation Growth conditions Cream-colored roots are the most widely grown and are favored in Peru for their enhanced sweetness and size. Specific phenotypes (in maca, 'phenotype' pertains mainly to root color) have been propagated exclusively to increase commercial interest. Each is considered a "genetically unique variety", as seeds of the parent plants grow to have roots of the same color. ![]() Maca hypocotyls may be gold or cream, red, purple, blue, black, or green. Traditionally, native growers have acknowledged four varieties of maca, based on their root color: cream-yellow, half purple, purple, and black varying levels of anthocyanin is primarily responsible for the color differences. Maca does vary greatly in the size and shape of the root, which may be triangular, flattened circular, spherical, or rectangular, the latter of which forms the largest roots. Maca is the only member of the genus Lepidium with a fleshy hypocotyl, which is fused with the taproot to form a rough inverted pear-shaped body. Some sources consider the maca to be an annual plant, as in favorable years it can complete a lifecycle within a year. From experiments with different day lengths, maca is a short-day plant. Maca reproduces mainly through self-pollination and is an autogamous species. Seeds are the maca’s only means of reproduction. The off-white, self-fertile flowers are borne on a central raceme, and are followed by 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) siliculate fruits, each containing two small 2.0–2.5 mm (0.079–0.098 in) reddish-gray ovoid seeds. They are more prominent in the vegetative phase, and are continuously renewed from the center as the outer leaves die. The leaves show a dimorphism according to reproductive stage. The thin, frilly leaves sprout in a rosette at the soil surface, not growing more than 12–20 cm (4.7–7.9 in) in height. The green, fragrant tops are short and lie along the ground. The growth habit, size, and proportions of maca are roughly similar to those of radishes and turnips, to which it is related, but it also resembles a parsnip. Debate about the correct nomenclature and whether the distinction between meyenii and peruvianum is botanically correct may have been settled by a more recent multicenter exploratory study that demonstrated distinct differences in taxonomy, visual appearance, phytochemical profiles and DNA sequences of the two researched Maca isotypes, suggesting that the two Maca specimens are dissimilar and formal use of the term “synonymous” to L. The Latin name recognized by the USDA similarly continues to be Lepidium meyenii. Most botanists doubt this distinction, however, and continue to call the cultivated maca L. She considered the widely cultivated natural maca of today to be a newer domesticated species, L. In the 1990s, Gloria Chacon made a further distinction of a different species. Gerhard Walpers named the species Lepidium meyenii in 1843. Antonio Vázquez de Espinosa gave a description of the plant following his visit to Peru circa 1598 and Bernabé Cobo gave a description of this plant in the early 17th century.
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