| Dioscorea strydomiana | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Dioscoreales |
| Family: | Dioscoreaceae |
| Genus: | Dioscorea |
| Species: | D. strydomiana |
| Binomial name | |
| Dioscorea strydomiana Wilkin [2] | |
Dioscorea strydomiana is a critically endangered species of yam (family Dioscoreaceae) from South Africa with fewer than 250 mature individuals known to exist. [1]
Dioscorea strydomiana is shrub-like, grows up to 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) tall with an above ground tuber that is large and rough-textured, the thick bark resembling the tortoise-shell-like bark of Dioscorea elephantipes [3] It has herbaceous stems from the upper part of the tuber each year, and then they die back over the course of the dry season. Its ovate or elliptical leaves are found on short stalks and arranged alternately along the stems. [1] [4]
It is dioecious and has very small flowers that are less than 10 mm (0.39 in) in diameter with six cream-coloured or white tepals which appear in late spring to early summer. The fruits resemble dry capsules that split at the ends to release seeds. [4]
It is a recently discovered species (circa 2002), and an extremely slow growing plant, but it has great horticultural potential. [1]
The specific epithet honors the late Gerhard Strydom, a conservationist with the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency, who noticed the plant for sale at a market and tracked it down to its habitat. [4]
D. strydomiana's range is only limited to the Oshoek area in Mpumalanga, South Africa, near the border with Eswatini where it is found at 1,100–1,150 metres (3,609–3,773 ft) above sea level. [1] [4]
The plant is used in traditional medicine (like other Dioscorea species). [4]
Tubers are a type of enlarged structure that plants use as storage organs for nutrients, derived from stems or roots. Tubers help plants perennate, provide energy and nutrients, and are a means of asexual reproduction.
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.
Dioscorea communis or Tamus communis is a species of flowering plant in the yam family Dioscoreaceae and is commonly known as black bryony, lady's-seal or black bindweed.
Dioscorea elephantipes, the elephant's foot or Hottentot bread, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Dioscorea of the family Dioscoreaceae, native to the dry interior of South Africa.
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 wàaih sāan in Cantonese.
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.
Protea comptonii, also known as saddleback sugarbush, is a smallish tree of the genus Protea in the family Proteaceae. It is found in South Africa and Eswatini.
Protea aristata is a compact shrub with beautiful flowers which is endemic to the southwestern part of the Cape Region of South Africa. P. aristata has become one of South Africa's most famous proteas in spite of its relatively late discovery, and re-discovery in 1953. The leaves are soft, dense and needle-like and the flower heads are a stunning crimson red, it may thus be a good potential ornamental plant for South African gardens. It is usually called the Ladismith sugarbush in South African English, although it has been called pine sugar bush in Australia. In the Afrikaans language it has the vernacular name of klein-den-suikerbos.
Dioscorea transversa, the pencil yam, is a vine of eastern and northern Australia.
Protea scolymocephala, also known as the thistle protea or thistle sugarbush, is a flowering plant from the genus Protea native to South Africa.
Dioscorea orangeana is a tuberous vining flowering plant in the genus Dioscorea, endemic the Forêt d’Orangea near Antsiranana in Madagascar, from which it derives its name. The tuber is possibly edible, and unlike most other Dioscorea species, the tuber has many finger-like lobes as opposed to a single tuber. Because the plant is new to science and the possible harvesting by local populations, the conservation status of Dioscorea orangeana is of great concern.
Kumara plicatilis, formerly Aloe plicatilis, the fan-aloe, is a succulent plant endemic to a few mountains in the Fynbos ecoregion, of the Western Cape in South Africa. The plant has an unusual and striking fan-like arrangement of its leaves. It may grow as a large multistemmed shrub or as a small tree. It is one of the two species in the genus Kumara.
Dioscorea pentaphylla is a species of flowering plant in the yam family known by the common name fiveleaf yam. It is native to southern and eastern Asia as well as New Guinea, Sri Lanka and northern Australia. It is widely cultivated as a food crop and naturalized in Cuba and on several island chains in the Pacific.
Dioscorea alatipes is a herbaceous vine in the genus Dioscorea. It is indigenous to the Morondava Prefecture in Madagascar and is listed as an vulnerable on the IUCN Red List in 2017, having previously been listed as endangered in 2001. It has been confused with another Dioscorea species, D. bako which is a food source of the indigenous people of the region. D. alatipes is found growing in forested areas on sandy soils or on limestone substrate. This species is managed for human consumption as part of the SuLaMa Project. According to the IUCN, the species is threatened by overharvesting of the tubers as well as by the expansion of farmland in the area.
Dioscorea chouardii is a herbaceous plant in the family Dioscoreaceae. It is endemic to a single cliff located in the Pyrenees of Aragon, Spain.
Protea vogtsiae, also known as the Kouga sugarbush, is a small flowering shrub of the genus Protea within the family Proteaceae, which is only found growing in the wild in the southern Cape Region of South Africa.
Protea rubropilosa, also known as the Transvaal sugarbush, escarpment sugarbush or Transvaal mountain sugarbush, is a flowering tree, that belongs to the genus Protea in the family Proteaceae. The plant only occurs in South Africa.
Protea pudens, also known as the bashful sugarbush, is a low-growing, groundcover-like, flowering shrub in the genus Protea. It is only found growing in the wild in a small area in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
Protea convexa, also known as large-leaf sugarbush, is a rare flowering shrub in the genus Protea of the family Proteaceae, which is endemic to the southwestern Cape Region of South Africa.
