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Dioscorea bulbifera

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Photo by DLN.


The rarely seen flowers by Karen Brown.

Synonyms:
Dioscorea violacea Baudon.
Helmia bulbifera
Kunth 1850.
Dioscorea hoffa
Cordem. 1895.
Dioscorea hofika
Jum. & H. Perrier, 1910.
Dioscorea latifolia
Benth.
Dioscorea longipetiolata
Baudon.
Dioscorea anthropophagorum
A. Chev. ex Jum. 1910.
Dioscorea perrieri
R. Knuth, 1924.
Dioscorea bulbifera var. albotuberosa Y.F.Zhou, Z.L.Xu & Y.Y.Hang
Dioscorea bulbifera var. brachybotryum,
Y.Y.Hang & Y.F.Zhou
Dioscorea bulbifera var. elongata,
Prain & Burkill.
Dioscorea crispata,
Roxb.
Dioscorea heterophylla,
Roxb.
Dioscorea korrorensis,
R.Knuth.
Dioscorea perrieri,
R.Knuth.
Dioscorea pulchella,
Roxb.
Dioscorea rogersii,
Prain & Burkill
Dioscorea sativa var. elongata,
F.M.Bailey
Dioscorea sativa var. rotunda,
F.M.Bailey.
Dioscorea tamifolia,
Salisb.
Dioscorea tenuiflora,
Schltdl.
Helmia bulbifera,
Kunth.
Polynome bulbifera,
Salisb.

Author: Carl Linnaeus, 1753
Family:  DIOSCOREACEAE
Origin:  Asia, Africa, Australia - see below
Soil:  Rich
Water:  Medium
Sun:  Medium - Maximum
Thickness:  18 Centimetres
Height:  6 Metres
Flower:  White
Propagate:  Seeds/Air-Bulbs
Names:  Potato Yam, Aerial Yam, Air Potato, Bulbil Yam, Bulbil-Bearing Yam, Turkey Liver Yam, Top Yam
Synonyms:  Dioscorea sativa Thunb. 1784.
- and more below....

This member of the Dioscoreaceae family was given this name by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. It is found in tropical Asia and Africa (and now in southern USA and northern South Africa), growing in a rich and well drained soil with some water and little to some sun. The caudex can grow to 18 centimetres in diameter, the vines can reach for six metres. The rarely seen flowers are tiny and white.

Dioscorea is named after Pedianos Dioscorides, a Greek physician if the 1st century A.D. The species name means 'bearing bulbs', for the bulbs on the stems.


Photo by Alex Smirnov.

It originates from: Andaman Is., Angola, Assam, Bangladesh, Benin, Borneo, Burkina, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Caprivi Strip, Caroline Is., Central African Repu, Chad, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Christmas I., Congo, East Himalaya, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Hainan, India, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jawa, Kenya, Korea, Laccadive Is., Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaya, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, New Guinea, Nigeria, Northern Territory, Pakistan, Philippines, Queensland, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tibet, Togo, Uganda, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Western Australia, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe.