Dioscorea alata L. - water yam
Dioscorea alata L. - water yam
Dioscorea alata L. - water yam
MC051 : Dioscorea alata L.
| Plant Category | : | Climbers |
| Melghat's Flora's Serial No. | : | |
| Synonym | : | Dioscorea alata var. globosa (Roxb.) Prain;
Dioscorea alata var. purpurea (Roxb.) A.Pouchet;
Dioscorea alata var. tarri Prain & Burkill;
Dioscorea alata var. vera Prain & Burkill;
Dioscorea atropurpurea Roxb.;
Dioscorea colocasiifolia Pax;
Dioscorea eburina Lour.;
Dioscorea eburnea Lour.;
Dioscorea globosa Roxb.;
Dioscorea javanica Queva;
Dioscorea purpurea Roxb.;
Dioscorea rubella Roxb.;
Dioscorea sapinii De Wild.;
Dioscorea vulgaris Miq.;
Elephantodon eburnea (Lour.) Salisb.;
Polynome alata (L.) Salisb.; |
| Plant Common Name | : | Water yam, Yam, Asiatic yam, Greater yam/ Indiatic yam, White yam, Greater Yam, Kath-aloo, Kath Alu |
| Plant Family | : | Dioscoreaceae |
| Description | : | Tubers variable, usually globose or conical (when cork brown or purplish black and transverse section purplish white), or oblate or cylindric, much branched (when cork brown or grayish yellow and transverse section white). Stem twining to right, glabrous, ridged, with 4 narrow, membranous wings, prickly at base. Bulblets present, variable in shape. Leaves alternate basally on stem, opposite distally on stem, simple; petiole green or purplish red, 4--15 cm; leaf blade green or purplish red, ovate, 6--15(--20) × 4--13 cm, papery, glabrous, base sagittate to deeply cordate, apex shortly acuminate or caudate. Male spikes solitary or a few together, 1.5--4 cm, sometimes forming a panicle; rachis obviously zigzagged. Male flowers: outer perianth lobes broadly ovate, 1.5--2 mm; stamens 6. Female spikes solitary or 2 or 3 together. Female flowers: staminodes 6. Capsule not reflexed, oblate, sometimes obcordate, 1.5--2.5 cm; wings 1.2--2.2 cm wide. Seeds inserted near middle of capsule, winged all round. Fl. Nov--Jan, fr. Dec--Jan. |
| Plant Location in Melghat | : | Usually cultivated, but found growing wild near Church at Chikhaldara |
| Medicinal Use / Activity | : | The tuber is grated, mixed with brown stout vinegar, then spread onto paper and placed on the small of a woman's back to prevent or forestall a threatened miscarriage. |
| Plant's Phytochemicals | : | COMPOUNDS: ACTIVE COMPOUNDS (0): |
| Plant's Current Status | : | |
| Plant's Cross Database Reference | : | 259142 |
| Reference | : | https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=DIAL2
- http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=3&taxon_id=200028084
- http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Dioscorea+alata
- https://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/243754 |
| Reference | : | ~ Aadil Mustafa, Aziz Ahmad, Aadil Hussain Tantray and Parvaiz Ahmad Parry; "Ethnopharmacological Potential and Medicinal Uses of Miracle Herb Dioscorea spp."; Journal of Ayurvedic and Herbal Medicine (2018); 4(2): 79-85 PMID : ~ Sanjeet Kumar, Gitishree Das, Han-Seung Shin, and Jayanta Kumar Patra; "Dioscorea spp. (A Wild Edible Tuber): A Study on Its Ethnopharmacological Potential and Traditional Use by the Local People of Similipal Biosphere Reserve, India"; Frontiers in Pharmacology (2017); 8:52 PMID : 28261094 ~ Sheikh N., Kumar Y., Misra A. K., Pfoze L.; "Phytochemical screening to validate the ethnobotanical importance of root tubers of Dioscorea species of Meghalaya, North East India."; J. Med. Plant Stud. (2013); 1, 62-69 PMID : ~ Behailu Bizuayehu and Belachew Garedew; "A review on the ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used for the treatment of gonorrhea disease in Ethiopia"; Indian Journal of Natural Products and Resources (2018); 9(3): 183-193 PMID : |
| Kingdom | : Plantae - Plants |
|---|---|
| Phylum | : Tracheophyta |
| Subkingdom | : Tracheobionta - Vascular plants |
| Superdivision | : Spermatophyta - Seed plants |
| Division | : Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants |
| Class | : Liliopsida - Monocotyledons |
| Subclass | : Liliidae |
| Order | : Liliales |
| Family | : Dioscoreaceae - Yam family |
| Genus | : Dioscorea L. - yam |
| Species | : Dioscorea alata L. - water yam |