Dioscorea daunea
Prain & Burkill
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
What to Eat
Edible parts: Tuber, Root
The tubers are eaten after boiling and peeling, though they are bitter and require treatment before consumption. It serves as a famine food.
Known Hazards
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. It grows in forests in peninsula Thailand. It is often on limestone and near water. It grows between 20-1,400 m above sea level.
Asia, Indochina, Myanmar, SE Asia, Thailand,
How to Identify
A yam. It is a robust climber. It can grow 25 m tall. The tubers occur as 2 or 3 together. They are 5-12 cm long by 2-3 cm wide. The stems are 3-7 mm across and twine to the left. The re-grow each year. The leaves are simple and alternate. The leaf blade is broadly oval to sword shaped. There can be bulbils in the axils of the leaves near the ground. The flowers hang down.
Other Information
It is a famine food.
Names & Synonyms
Suna
References (3)
- Castillo, C., 2013, The Archaeobotany of Khao Sam Kaeo and Phu Khao Thong: The Agriculture of Late Prehistoric Southern Thailand. Ph. D. thesis University College, London p 378
- Lim, T. K., 2015, Edible Medicinal and Non Medicinal Plants. Volume 9, Modified Stems, Roots, Bulbs. Springer p 34
- Mareenoon, K. et al, 2008, Ethnobotany of Dioscorea L. (Dioscoreaceae), a Major Food Plant of the Sakai Tribe at Banthad Range, Peninsular Thailand. Ethnobotany Reaearch & Applications 6:385-394
