Dioscorea dregeana (live succulent)

Dioscorea dregeana (live succulent)

Family: Dioscoreaceae

Common names: wild yam, wildejam

The twining, pale green and tuberous Dioscorea dregeana can be used in different ways for different purposes. It is a useful medicinal plant of the Zulus; however it is poisonous to humans and animals. The wild yam has a slightly thorny stem growing annually from a fleshy, tuberous rootstock. The stems are produced in spring and tend to die off in winter. The underground fleshy tuber grows up to 300 mm in diameter. The leaves are large, alternate, 3-foliolate, covered with silvery, velvet hairs, broadly ovate, with apex attenuate, up to 150 x 110 mm. The flowers are white, inconspicuous and borne in slender, branched clusters that hang down from the stems. The male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. The fruits are pale green, winged and up to 50 x 25 mm. These are still young plants with a small caudex.