Dioscorea karatana
Wilkin
DioscoreaceaeRoots
gbif · cc-by
GBIF
GBIF
gbif · cc-by
GBIF
GBIF
gbif · cc-by
GBIF
GBIF
What to Eat
Edible parts: Tuber, Root
The tuber is cooked and eaten without further processing.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant.
Africa, East Africa, Madagascar,
Countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Comoros, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe
How to Identify
A yam. The vine is slender and twining. It grows to about 3 m long. It has a fleshy tuber. The tubers can be buried 1.5 m deep. They can be 3 m long and 10 cm thick. It has lobes towards the end. The flesh is white. The stems twine to the left. The leaves are alternate and 6 cm long by 3 cm wide. They narrow to a long tip. The leaves are dark green above and more pale underneath.
References (1)
- Wilkin, et al, 2000, A New Species of Dioscorea (Dioscoreaceae) from Eastern Madagascar and Its Pollen Morphology. Kew Bulletin Vol. 55, No 2. pp 427-434
