Dioscorea divaricata

Blanco

Chinese yam

DioscoreaceaeRoots

wikimedia · cc-by-sa
Wikimedia Commons - UPLB MNH Digital Archives

What to Eat

Edible parts: Tubers, Root

The tubers are eaten boiled or baked.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It grows in forests and thickets at low and medium altitudes. In the Philippines found in Pangasinan, Bataan, Rizal and Laguna.

Africa, Asia, Burundi, Central Africa, China, Congo, East Africa, India, Japan, North America, Pacific, Philippines, SE Asia, USA,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Antigua & Barbuda, Armenia, Angola, Australia, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Bahrain, Burundi, Benin, Brunei, Bahamas, Bhutan, Botswana, Belize, Canada, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Micronesia, Gabon, Grenada, Georgia, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Haiti, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jamaica, Jordan, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Comoros, St Kitts & Nevis, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, St Lucia, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Marshall Islands, Mali, Myanmar, Mongolia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Maldives, Malawi, Mexico, Malaysia, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Nepal, Nauru, New Zealand, Oman, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Palau, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, Seychelles, Sudan, Singapore, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, El Salvador, Syria, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tunisia, Tonga, Turkey, Trinidad & Tobago, Tuvalu, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, United States, Uzbekistan, St Vincent, Vietnam, Vanuatu, Samoa, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A yam. It grows each year from the tuber. A vine with slender stems armed with scattered short spines near the base. It twines to the right. The tubers are slender, fleshy and narrow. They can be 2 m long and 10 cm across. They grow deep in the soil. The leaves are simple and opposite. The leaf stalk is 7 cm long. Leaves are spear shaped and 10 to 18 cm long. The flowers are very small and yellowish green and borne in flower clusters in the axils of leaves. The male flower stalks can be 60 cm long. The female flower stalks can be 18 cm long. The fruit are divided into 3 semicircular lobes and contain flat winged seeds. (It is similar to Dioscorea nummularia)

Notes

There are about 650 species of Dioscorea.

Names & Synonyms

Bakliakang, Dulian, Kiroi, Pakit, Sulian

Dioscorea foxworthyi Prain & BurkillDioscorea oxyphylla R. KnuthDioscorea soror Prain and BurkillDioscorea batatas

References (9)

Brown, W.H., 1920, Wild Food Plants of the Philippines. Bureau of Forestry Bulletin No. 21 Manila. p 31
Fl. Filip. 797. 1837
Flora Malesiana Vol 13 p 332
Hedrick, U.P., 1919, (Ed.), Sturtevant's edible plants of the world. p 273
Jardin, C., 1970, List of Foods Used In Africa, FAO Nutrition Information Document Series No 2.p 13
Lim, T. K., 2015, Edible Medicinal and Non Medicinal Plants. Volume 9, Modified Stems, Roots, Bulbs. Springer p 35
Monsalud, M.R., Tongacan, A.L., Lopez, F.R., & Lagrimas, M.Q., 1966, Edible Wild Plants in Philippine Forests. Philippine Journal of Science. p 459
PROSEA handbook Volume 9 Plants yielding non-seed carbohydrates. p 171
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

What to Eat

Where to Find It

How to Identify

Notes

More from Dioscoreaceae