Dioscorea hamiltonii

Hook. f.

Sandikilangu

DioscoreaceaeRoots

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What to Eat

Edible parts: Tubers, Root, Bulbils

The tubers are boiled and eaten, and are also eaten raw by children. The bulbils are cooked and eaten. Tubers are sold in local markets.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. In Yunnan.

Andamans, Asia, Bangladesh, China, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Northeastern India, SE Asia, Thailand, Vietnam,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bhutan, China, Georgia, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mongolia, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

How to Identify

A yam. It is a climbing plant and the stems wind clockwise. The tubers are deeply buried. It has bulbils in the axils of the leaves. The leaves can be opposite or alternate. The leaves are heart shaped and 10 cm long by 8 cm wide. The tubers can occur singly or in pairs. Flowers are on spikes with male and female flowers separately. Male spikes are zigzag and 40 cm long while female spikes are curved and 20 cm long. The fruit are capsules 2 cm wide. The seeds have brown wings.

How to Grow

It can be grown from the bulbils.

Propagation: Seed - Tubercles.

Medicinal Uses

The rhizomes constitute a restorative and antifebrile remedy. They have a beneficial effect in the treatment of dyspepsia, general debility, chronic enteritis, chronic diarrhoea and dysentery, spermatorrhoea, night sweats, diabetes mellitus, polyuria, merrorrhoea, lumbago, vertigo and photopsia. The tuber is used externally for poulticing boils. The tubers are collected towards the end of the growing season as the plant begins to wither. They are carefully washed, soaked in an aqueous solution of alum for 2 - 3 hours, then subjected to sulphur fumigation for 48 hours. They are then dried in the sun or in ovens.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Dioscorea hamiltonii is a species of Dioscorea native to southern China, Taiwan, northern Indochina (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar) and the Himalayas (Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Assam). Dioscorea hamiltonii is used as an ingredient in a type of chè: chè củ mài.

Production

Tubers are harvested when the plant withers.

Other Information

Tubers are sold in local markets. They are also eaten raw by children.

Notes

There are about 650 species of Dioscorea.

References (28)

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