Dioscorea rupicola
Kunth
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(c) Alison Young, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Alison Young
(c) Alison Young, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Alison Young
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Nick Helme, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Nick Helme
(c) Nick Helme, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Nick Helme
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) graham_g, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) graham_g, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Tubers, Root, Caution
The tubers are eaten after being boiled for 12 hours until the bark slips off.
Known Hazards
Where to Find It
It is a subtropical plant. It needs a rich, well-drained soil.
Africa, Eswatini, Mozambique, Southern Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia,
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. It is a vine. The vine ca be 8 m long. The flowers are brownish-green. The tuber can be 80 cm across and 3 m long.
How to Grow
Plants can be grown from seeds.
Other Information
A famine food.
Notes
It contains cortisone that are used to manufacture steroids.
Names & Synonyms
Inkwa, Lunyawolwendlovu, Susula, Senlila
References (5)
- Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 180
- Long, C., 2005, Swaziland's Flora - siSwati names and Uses http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora/
- Plowes, N. J. & Taylor, F. W., 1997, The Processing of Indigenous Fruits and other Wildfoods of Southern Africa. in Smartt, L. & Haq. (Eds) Domestication, Production and Utilization of New Crops. ICUC p 190
- Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 52
- Welcome, A. K. & Van Wyk, B.-E., 2019, An inventory and analysis of the food plants of southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 122 (2019) 136–179
