#dioscorea

[poop-me-a-flower]

I had a question about how Dioscorea elephantipes grows, and I love this guy so much I figured I’d talk about it a bit!

So basically, this plant has a woody swelling at the base that expands via the cracks you see forming on it. It’s kind of like being able to watch a tree grow rings (except that there’s a ring for every time the plant wakes up and grows, which can be multiple times per year). The photo on the left is from a couple months after I was gifted this plant as a seedling in 2021. The part that photosynthesizes is a vine that pops out of the top when the plant is actively growing. Right now mine is dormant, so there’s no vine and it kind of looks like a wooden baseball.

Also, it’s in the yam family. That’s right. This is a yam.

[botaniqueer]

The ube tubers I bought like half a year ago woke up! I was nervous they were just going to rot or something. Look how pretty the plant is! :3 Mostly we just see ube in processed form (and I suspect some ube products might just be purple sweet potato or dyed taro) so most people don’t know what the tuber or the plant looks like. (Most ube graphics in marketing items are actually sweet potatoes, which are morning glories and not yams.)

This is my own Filipino version of a decorative aroid.

I'm going to see if they take well to stem cuttings and sell and gift them to people who want a pet yam hehe

The systemic name for ube is Dioscorea alata! Essentially, winged yam in reference to the protruding edges of the stem.

[phytophiliac]

Dioscorea bulbifera by Richard Ellis Via Flickr: Dioscorea bulbifera has a lot colloquial names including: air potato, air yam, bitter yam, cheeky yam, potato yam, aerial yam, up-yam and parsnip yam. The "air yams" are bulbils produced along the vine - photographed here www.flickr.com/photos/hrichardellis/14940899700/in/photol... . It is considered an invasive species in Florida because the vines that you can see in this photo will strangle and smother surrounding vegetation. #Dioscoreabulbifera #Dioscorea #bulbifera #CUgreenhouse #botany

[ghostlyfoliage]

My Dioscorea discolor arrived in perfect condition! It's everything I hoped it would be... the leaves are velvet. ❤️

[markunsan]

Dioscorea elephantipes

涼しいこの時期グングン成長中で

新しい割れ目がほんのりグリーンな亀甲竜

[kouji-yamamoto]

*220824 何個あってもええやつ🐢🐢🐢➰ 毎日2回くらいのペースでとなりのトトロを見ている娘。 ついにきゅうりを丸かじりで食べるようになりました🥒👧🏻 #メイちゃん #さつきちゃん #亀甲竜 #ディオスコレア #エレファンティペス #dioscorea #elephantipes #塊根植物 #caudex #cactus #succulent #多肉植物 #サボテン #家 #植物のある暮らし #亀甲竜_ky4 https://www.instagram.com/p/ChpDzhZr4fJ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[cedar-glade]

Wild Yam,  Dioscorea villosa

an incredible native edible and one that I had never catched in bloom until recently in Adams County, Ohio. This species is wide spread throughout the North of North America, Midwest, and Eastern United States. 

In other notes this plant is also an associated species of medical research and importance. 

The genera name is associated with the steroid compound or rather the estrogen Diosgenin. Chemically changing the structure of diosgenin has lead to many break throughs in arthritis medicine, minstrel cramps, and  Osteoporosis treatment, Rather what is converted is the actual medicine progesterone cream that acts as a strong anti-inflammatory and anti-penetrant. 

[morphons]

Dioscorea elephantipes. Abbey Brook Cactus Nursery, Derbyshire. July 2019.