The origin of cassava has long eluded researchers. The botanical origin, th
e geographical origin, the area of domestication, all are disputed matters.
The argument advanced here is that, once the wild ancestor is identified,
speculation about the taxonomy and the geographical cradle of the root crop
will narrow considerably, as a number of species and geographical areas wi
ll automatically become excluded from consideration in matters of classific
ation, domestication and evolution. Current knowledge about the three subje
cts shows that discoveries on the botanical origin of manioc have progresse
d a great deal, discoveries on the geographical origin are in progress, and
discoveries on the area where the beginning of cultivation happened are in
cipient. In this paper, five Brazilian Manihot species are suggested as the
closest wild relatives of cassava. One of them (M. esculenta ssp. flabelli
folia) is regarded as the wild progenitor of modern cultivars and thus part
of the primary genepool of the root crop. Another species (M. pruinosa) is
regarded as the nearest species to the GP1 of cassava and can hardly be se
parated from the wild strain M. esculenta ssp. flabellifolia on morphologic
al grounds.