Dioscorea sericea | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Dioscoreales |
Family: | Dioscoreaceae |
Genus: | Dioscorea |
Species: | D. sericea |
Binomial name | |
Dioscorea sericea R.Kunth | |
Dioscorea sericea (common names: wild yam, colic-root, rheumatism-root) [2] is a type of climbing tuberous geophyte in the family Dioscoreaceae. [3] It is native to Colombia and Peru. [1]
Root vegetables are underground plant parts eaten by humans as food. Although botany distinguishes true roots from non-roots, the term "root vegetable" is applied to all these types in agricultural and culinary usage.
Dioscorea alata, also known as purple yam, ube, or greater yam, among many other names, is a species of yam. The tubers are usually a vivid violet-purple to bright lavender in color, but some range in color from cream to plain white. It is sometimes confused with taro and the Okinawa sweet potato beniimo (紅芋), however D. alata is also grown in Okinawa. With its origins in the Asian tropics, D. alata has been known to humans since ancient times.
Dioscorea is a genus of over 600 species of flowering plants in the family Dioscoreaceae, native throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. The vast majority of the species are tropical, with only a few species extending into temperate climates. It was named by the monk Charles Plumier after the ancient Greek physician and botanist Dioscorides.
Dioscorea villosa is a species of twining tuberous vine which is native to eastern North America. It is commonly known as wild yam, colic root, rheumatism root, devil's bones, and fourleaf yam. It is common and widespread in a range stretching from Texas and Florida north to Minnesota, Ontario and Massachusetts.
Yam is the common name for some plant species in the genus Dioscorea that form edible tubers. The tubers of some other species in the genus, such as D. communis, are toxic. Yams are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in many temperate and tropical regions, especially in West Africa, South America and the Caribbean, Asia, and Oceania. The tubers themselves, also called "yams", come in a variety of forms owing to numerous cultivars and related species.
Dioscorea polystachya or Chinese yam, also called cinnamon-vine, is a species of flowering plant in the yam family. It is sometimes called Chinese potato or by its Korean name ma. It is also called huaishan in Mandarin and waisan in Cantonese.
Dioscorea oppositifolia is a type of yam (Dioscorea) native to Myanmar (Burma) and to the Indian Subcontinent.
Dioscorea bulbifera is a species of true yam in the yam family, Dioscoreaceae. It is native to Africa, Asia and northern Australia. It is widely cultivated and has become naturalized in many regions.
Tacca leontopetaloides is a species of flowering plant in the yam family Dioscoreaceae. It is native to Island Southeast Asia but have been introduced as canoe plants throughout the Indo-Pacific tropics by Austronesian peoples during prehistoric times. They have become naturalized to tropical Africa, South Asia, northern Australia, and Oceania. Common names include Polynesian arrowroot, Fiji arrowroot, East Indies arrowroot, pia, and seashore bat lily.
Dioscorea cayenensis subsp. rotundata, commonly known as the white yam, West African yam, Guinea yam, or white ñame, is a subspecies of yam native to Africa. It is one of the most important cultivated yams. Kokoro is one of its most important cultivars.
Nigeria is by far the world’s largest producer of yams, accounting for over 70–76 percent of the world production. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization report, in 1985, Nigeria produced 18.3 million tonnes of yam from 1.5 million hectares, representing 73.8 percent of total yam production in Africa. According to 2008 figures, yam production in Nigeria has nearly doubled since 1985, with Nigeria producing 35.017 million metric tonnes with value equivalent of US$5.654 billion. In perspective, the world's second and third largest producers of yams, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, only produced 6.9 and 4.8 million tonnes of yams in 2008 respectively. According to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Nigeria accounted for about 70 percent of the world production amounting to 17 million tonnes from land area 2,837,000 hectares under yam cultivation.
Dioscorea japonica, known as East Asian mountain yam, yamaimo, or Japanese mountain yam, is a type of yam (Dioscorea) native to Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, and Assam.
The Mexican barbasco trade was the trade of the diosgenin-rich yam species Dioscorea mexicana, Dioscorea floribunda and Dioscorea composita which emerged in Mexico in the 1950s as part of the Mexican steroid industry. The trade consisted in Mexican campesinos harvesting the root in the jungle, selling it to middlemen who brought it to processing plants where the root was fermented and the diosgenin extracted and sold to pharmaceutical companies such as Syntex who used it to produce synthetic hormones.
Dioscorea dumetorum, also known as the bitter yam, cluster yam, trifoliate yam, or three-leaved yam, is a species of flowering plant in the yam family, Dioscorea. It is native to sub-saharan Africa and especially common in the tropical regions of West Africa, including Nigeria, Benin, and Ghana. D. dumetorum has both toxic and non-toxic varieties.
Dioscorea bernoulliana is a type of yam in the family Dioscoreaceae. It is native to Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. It usually grows in woodlands, forests, and mangrove swamps.
Dioscorea orizabensis is a species of yam in the family Dioscoreaceae. It is native to the Jalisco and Veracruz states of Mexico. The plant is a climbing tuberous geophyte which grows in mountain forests.
Dioscorea ovinala is a species of yam in the family Dioscoreaceae. It is endemic to Madagascar and grows mostly in dry deciduous forests.
Dioscorea chimborazensis is a type of yam in the family Dioscoreaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador.
Dioscorea pseudomacrocapsa is a species of yam in the family Dioscoreaceae. It occurs in southeastern Brazil, and grows in tropical rainforests.
Dioscorea praehensilis is a species of yam in the genus Dioscorea native to Africa. It is the wild progenitor of the West African domesticated crops Dioscorea rotundata and Dioscorea cayennensis. It is a liana with an edible tuber root found in African rainforests and seasonal tropical forests. The roots reach their maximum starch reserves during the dry season. The species renews its stems every year at the start of the rainy season.