Phylogenetic relationships among the 84 accessions of taro (Colocasia esculenta (L) Schott), C gigantea Hook Alocasia macrorrhiza, A odora, Xanthosoma sagittifolium (L.) Schott and X. violaceum Schott were investigated using isozyme polymorphism of esterase. The phylogenetic tree estimated by the UPGMA analyses revealed that taro accessions formed a single cluster and C. gigantea was more closely related to Alocasia species than to taro. Taro accessions from Yunnan tended to share band patterns with those from various areas, which indicates that the Yunnan area might have been important for taro evolution.