Skip to main content

Dioscorea melanophyma

Prain and Burkill

iNaturalist· cc-by-nc-sa

(c) mazus_jan, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by mazus_jan

iNaturalist· cc-by-nc-sa

(c) mazus_jan, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by mazus_jan

iNaturalist· cc-by-nc

(c) Aniruddha Singhamahapatra, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Aniruddha Singhamahapatra

Description

A yam. It is a climbing plant. The stems twine clockwise. It has a fleshy round tuber. The tuber has roots. The leaves are alternate and have 3-5 leaflets. The leaflets are 4-14 cm long by 1-2.5 cm wide. They are narrowly sword shaped. It has black bulbils along the stem. The fruit is a capsule 1.5 cm long by 0.5 cm wide.

Edible Uses

The tuberous roots are thoroughly washed and boiled, then cooked as a vegetable in stir fries or as a boiled dish.

Traditional Uses

The tuberous roots are thoroughly washed, boiled and cooked as a vegetable. They are boiled or used in stir fries.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Distribution

It is a subtropical plant. It grows in Uttar Pradesh in India between 1200-3000 m altitude. In southern China it grows on the edges of forests between 1,300-2,500 m above sea level.

Where It Grows

Asia, China, Himalayas, India, Nepal, Northeastern India, Pakistan, Sikkim, Tibet,

Notes

There are about 650 species of Dioscorea.

Synonyms

Dioscorea tenuii R. Knuth.

Also Known As

Ban-geithi, Ban gethi, Bon-zon-za-lu, Gethu, Hash, Huangshayue, Mag, y-Manghaii

References (9)

  • Flora of Pakistan www.eFloras.org
  • Jha, P. K., et al, 1996, Plant genetic resources of Nepal: A guide for plant breeders of agricultural, horticultural and forestry crops. Euphytica 87:189-210
  • Ju, Y., et al, 2013, Eating from the wild: diversity of wild edible plants used by Tibetans in Shangri-la region, Yunnan, China, Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethno medicine 9:28
  • Li, S., et al, 2020, Monpa, memory, and change: an ethnobotanical study of plant use in Mêdog County, South-east Tibet, China. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. (2020) 16:5 p 17
  • Murtem, G. & Chaudhrey, P., 2016, An ethnobotanical note on wild edible plants of Upper Eastern Himalaya, India. Brazilian Journal of Biological Sciences, 2016, v. 3, no. 5, p. 63-81 (As melanophylla)
Show all 9 references
  • Negi, K.S., 1988, Some little known wild edible plants of U.P. Hills. J. Econ. Tax. Bot. Vol. 12 No. 2 pp 345-360
  • Pandey, K. C. & Pande, N., 2016, Ethnobotanical Documentation of Wild Edible Plants used by Gujjar Community of Tarai West Forest Division Ramnagar, Nainital, India, Current World Environment. Vol. 11(3), 808-818
  • Radha, B., et al, 2013, Wild Edible Plant Resources of the Lohba Range of Kedarnath Forestt Division (KFD), Garhwal Himalaya, India. Int. Res J. Biological Sci. Vol. 2 (11), 65-73
  • Wild edible plants of Himachal Pradesh

More from Dioscoreaceae