Cassava is a perennial plant with conspicuous, almost palmate
(fan-shaped) leaves resembling those of the related castor-oil
plant but more deeply parted into five to nine lobes. The fleshy
roots are reminiscent of dahlia tubers. Different varieties range
from low herbs to branching shrubs and slender unbranched
trees.
The cassava root is long and tapered, with a firm, homogeneous
flesh encased in a detachable rind, about 1 millimetre (1⁄*6 inch)
thick, rough and brown on the outside. Commercial cultivars can be
5 to *0 centimetres (2 to 4 in) in diameter at the top, and around
*5 to *0 cm (6 to *2 in) long.
