Dioscoreaceae FAMILY

Dioscorea villosa

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

3/5

Safety & Hazards

Edible species of Dioscorea have opposite leaves whilst poisonous species have alternate leaves[ 174 Title Atlas of Medicinal Plants. Publication Author Kariyone. T. Publisher Nihon Rinshosha; Osaka Year 1973 ISBN Description A good Japanese herbal. ]. Use of the fresh plant can cause vomiting and other side effects[ 222 Title A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Publication Author Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. Publisher Houghton Mifflin Co. Year 1990 ISBN 0395467225 Description A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties. ].

Botanical Description

Dioscorea villosa is a perennial climbing plant with brownish rhizomes that can vary from unbranched to highly branched and are around 5 - 15mm in diameter. It produces a number of stems up to 7 metres tall[ 270 Title Flora of N. America Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses. ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and medicine.

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate

Native RangeCentral and Eastern N. America - Minnesota, southern Ontario and New England, south to Texas and Florida.

HabitatBorders of bogs, swamps, marshes, river and lake margins, creek bottoms, sandy or rocky soils, moist or dry woods, hammocks, thickets, limestone or talus slopes, roadsides; at elevations from sea level to 1,500 metres[ 270 Title Flora of N. America Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses. ].