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Dioscorea alata
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Family:
DIOSCOREACEAE
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Citation: Dioscorea alata L., Sp. Pl. 1033. 1753; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 6: 296. 1892; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 1512(1056). 1928; Mohanan, Fl. Quilon Dist. 413. 1984; Antony, Syst. Stud. Fl. Kottayam Dist. 399. 1989; Babu, Fl. Malappuram Dist. 806. 1990; Sivar. & Mathew, Fl. Nilambur 726. 1997; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 690. 2009; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 874. 2009.
Dioscorea globosa Roxb., Fl. Ind. 3: 797. 1832; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 6: 296. 1892.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Kaachil, Kaavuth
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Asiatic yam, Greater Yam, Yam, Water yam, White yam
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Description:
Tubers one to several, polymorphic, variously branched or lobed. Stem twining to right, 4-5-winged; wings sometimes reduced to ribs. Bulbils globose, ovoid or obpyriform, occasionally with rootlets. Leaves opposite or rarely subopposite, 7-18 x 4-10 cm, broadly ovate or deltoid-ovate, base cordate or subsagittate, apex acuminate, primary veins 7; petiole to 8 cm long, winged. Male Spike on axillary branchlets, paniculate; rachis winged. Flowers c. 1.5 mm long; bracts to 1 mm long, deltoid-ovate; tepals 1-1.5 mm long, widely ovate, obtuse; stamens 6, free; pistillode conical. Female spike solitary in axils, axis 10-20 cm long. Flowers laxly arranged, sessile; bracts 1-1.5 mm long, ovate; tepals fleshy, c. 1 mm long, broadly ovate; staminodes 6, very small; ovary c. 3 mm long. Capsule 2-2.5 mm long, broadly obcordate.
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Habit:
Climber
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Flowering & Fruiting:
Throughout the year
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District(s):
All Districts
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Cultivated, also naturalised
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Distribution:
India
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
White, Green
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Monocotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
No
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
Yes
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Endemic to:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
Nooranad
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