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Purple yam (Dioscorea alata)

Dlium Purple yam (Dioscorea alata)

Purple yam (Dioscorea alata) is a species of plant in the Dioscoreaceae, climbing shrub up to 10 meters, fibrous root system, tubers round or flat long and branched. The skin of the tuber is brown to blackish-brown and coarsely grooved. The inner tubers are white or purple or yellow and slimy.

Male flowers are yellow or greenish and female flowers are yellow. Compound inflorescence, in the axils of the leaves, the male grains are tightly packed, 12-50 cm long, green crown and 2 mm long.



Stem has 4 corners with fins, climbing to the right, not spiny but sometimes rough or speckled at the base and green or purplish in color.

Leaves are ovate or heart or arrow-shaped or lance-shaped, single, alternate at the base, opposite at the top, bright green or often slightly purplish, 15-20 cm long and 10-15 cm wide.

Tubers and young leaves are cooked in various ways as food ingredients. The tubers can be processed as flour or thin pieces or for the manufacture of alcohol. Cultivars with purple tubers are used in making ice cream and candy. The tubers have a bland taste with a fluffier texture.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Dioscoreales
Family: Dioscoreaceae
Genus: Dioscorea
Species: Dioscorea alata L. in Sp. Pl.: 1033 (1753)

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Polynome alata (L.) Salisb. in Gen. Pl.: 12 (1866)
Ubium alatum (L.) Desf. in Tabl. École Bot.: 21 (1804)

HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS

Dioscorea alata var. globosa (Roxb.) Prain in Bengal Pl. 2: 1067 (1903)
Dioscorea alata var. purpurea (Roxb.) H.F.Macmill. in Circ. Agric. J. Roy. Bot. Gard. Peradeniya 3: 11 (1905)
Dioscorea alata var. tarri Prain & Burkill in J. Proc. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 10: 39 (1914)
Dioscorea alata var. vera Prain & Burkill in J. Proc. Asiat. Soc. Bengal 10: 39 (1914)
Dioscorea atropurpurea Roxb. in Fl. Ind., ed. 1832. 3: 800 (1832)
Dioscorea colocasiifolia Pax in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 15: 145 (1892)
Dioscorea eburina Lour. in Fl. Cochinch.: 625 (1790)
Dioscorea eburnea Lour. in Fl. Cochinch., ed. 2: 767 (1793)
Dioscorea globosa Roxb. in Fl. Ind., ed. 1832. 3: 797 (1832)
Dioscorea javanica Queva in Mém. Soc. Natl. Sci. Agric. Arts Lille, sér. 4, 20: 372 (1894)
Dioscorea purpurea Roxb. in Fl. Ind., ed. 1832. 3: 799 (1832)
Dioscorea rubella Roxb. in Fl. Ind., ed. 1832. 3: 798 (1832)
Dioscorea sapinii De Wild. in Ann. Mus. Congo Belge, Bot., sér. 5, 3: 368 (1912)
Dioscorea vulgaris Miq. in Fl. Ned. Ind. 3: 572 (1857)
Elephantodon eburneus (Lour.) Salisb. in Gen. Pl.: 12 (1866)

PUBLICATIONS

George, A.S., Orchard, A.E. & Hewson, H.J. (eds.) (1993). Oceanic islands 2. Flora of Australia 50: 1-606. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Govaerts, R., Wilkin, P. & Saunders, R.M.K. (2007). World Checklist of Dioscoreales. Yams and their allies: 1-65. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Pandey, R.P. & Dilwakar, P.G. (2008). An integrated check-list flora of Andaman and Nicobar islands, India. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 32: 403-500.

Pasha, M.K. & Uddin, S.B. (2013). Dictionary of plant names of Bangladesh, Vasc. Pl.: 1-434. Janokalyan Prokashani, Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Plunkett, G.M., Ranker, T.A., Sam, C. & Balick, M.J. (2022). Towards a checklist of the vascular flora of Vanuatu. Candollea 77: 105-118.

Smith, A.C. (1979). Flora Vitiensis Nova. A new flora for Fiji (Spermatophytes only) 1: 1-495. Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai.

Sykes, W.R. (2016). Flora of the Cook Islands: 1-973. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Hawaii.

Tanaka, N., Koyama, T. & Murata, J. (2005). The flowering plants of Mt. Popa, central Myanmar - Results of Myanmar-Japanese joint expeditions, 2000-2004. Makinoa 5: 1-102.

Wilkin, P. & Thapyai, C. (2009). Flora of Thailand 10(1): 1-140. The Forest Herbarium, National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok.

VERNACULAR NAME

Ambon: Heli
Bali: Ubi
Banda: Lutu
Bengali: Chupri alu, Gaach alu
Bugis: Lame
Burmese: ခရမ်းရောင် ကန်စွန်းဥ
Chinese (simplified): 参薯 - 紫山药 - 田薯 - 香芋 - 紫薯 - 毛薯
Chinese (traditional): 參薯 - 大薯 - 紫山藥 - 田薯 - 毛薯
English: Purple yam, Ube, Ubi, Uwhi, Greater yam, Winged Yam
Filipino: Ubi, Kinampay
Hawaiian: Uhi
Hiri Motu: Maho, Taitu
Indonesian: Ubi Kelapa, Ubi kenduduk
Japanese: ダイショ - ダイジョ - グンバイドコロ - 大薯
Java: Uwi, Uwi legi
Khmer: ដំឡូងពណ៌ស្វាយ
Lao: ມັນຕົ້ນສີມ່ວງ
Madura: Obi
Makassar: Lame, Same
Palauan: Telngot
PNG: Yam tru, Nyaing, Kolpur
Sumba: Palulu luwangu
Sunda: Huwi
Ternate: Ima
Thai: มันม่วง
Vietnam: Khoai lang tím

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