Dioscorea amazonum

Mart. ex Griseb.

Cara

DioscoreaceaeRoots

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MBG

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(c) Ron Greer, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Ron Greer

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Howard, W.; Lowe, E. J. (via Wikimedia Commons)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Tuber, Root

The tubers and roots are eaten.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It grows in wet sandy places.

Bolivia, Brazil, Central America, Colombia, French Guiana, Guianas, Guyana, Panama, Peru, South America, Suriname, Venezuela,

Countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Belize, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Paraguay, Suriname, El Salvador, Uruguay, Venezuela

How to Identify

A tropical yam with heart-shaped leaves, cultivated as a food plant and growing naturally in wet sandy places.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Dioscorea amazonum is a flowering plant in the family Dioscoreaceae. It is a herbaceous vine that is native to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Specimens have been collected from forested areas next to roads and rivers.

Other Information

It is a cultivated food plant.

Notes

There are about 650 species of Dioscorea.

References (1)

Chu, E. P., Figueiredo-Ribeiro, R. C. L., 1991, Native and Exotic Species of Dioscorea Used as Food In Brazil. Economic Botany, Vol. 45, No. 4, pp. 467-479