Tapioca is a starch extracted from the root of the plant species Manihot esculenta. This species, native to the Amazon, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Venezuela is now cultivated worldwide and has many names, including cassava, bitter-cassava, manioc, ""mandioca"", ""aipim"", ""macaxeira"", ""manioca"", ""boba"", ""yuca"" (not to be confused with yucca), ""Sagudana"" (literally, Sagu drops)--with local variation of ""Sabudana""--and ""kappa"". In Vietnam, it is called b?t n?ng.