Dioscorea baya
De Wild.
MBG
GBIF
Meise Botanic Garden
What to Eat
Edible parts: Tubers, Root
The tubers are cooked and eaten as a starchy staple.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. In Congo it grows at about 500 m altitude. It grows in open areas in forest. It can grow in swampy areas.
Africa, Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Congo DR, Congo R, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Uganda, West Africa, Zambia,
How to Identify
A yam. The tubers are large and have a woody covering over them. The stems twine to the right. They have curved prickles near the base. These can be 1 cm long. The stems do not have bulbils. The leaves are usually opposite. The leaf blade is entire. They taper to the tip that is 1 cm long. There are 2 varieties both of which have edible tubers.
Notes
There are about 650 species of Dioscorea.
Names & Synonyms
Ikuse, Mpundi, Tumba
References (8)
- Ichikawa, M., Determinismes Ecologiques et Culturels Des Choix Alimentaires de chasseurs-cueilleurs Mbuti du Zaire. p 759 in L'Alimentation en Foret Tropicale UNESCO
- Jardin, C., 1970, List of Foods Used In Africa, FAO Nutrition Information Document Series No 2.p 13
- Latham, P., 2004, Useful Plants of Bas-Congo province. Salvation Army & DFID p 110
- Nkeoua, G. & Boundzanga, G. C., 1999, Donnees sur les produits forestieres non ligneux en Republique du Congo. FAO. p 24
- Tanno, T., 1981, Plant Utilization of the Mbuti Pygmies: With Special reference to their Material Culture and Use of Wild Vegetable Foods. Kyoto University Research. African Study Monographs 1:1-54
- Termote, C., et al, 2011, Eating from the wild: Turumbu, Mbole and Bali traditional knowledge of non-cultivated edible plants, District Tshopo, DRCongo, Gen Resourc Crop Evol. 58:585-618
- Wilkin, P., 2001, Dioscoreaceae of South-Central Africa. Kew Bulletin, Vol. 56, No. 2 (2001), pp 361-404
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
