Dioscorea transversa
| Dioscorea transversa | |
|---|---|
| File:Dioscorea transversa.jpg | |
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Dioscoreales |
| Family: | Dioscoreaceae |
| Genus: | Dioscorea |
| Species: | D. transversa
|
| Binomial name | |
| Dioscorea transversa | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
Dioscorea punctata R.Br. | |
Dioscorea transversa, the pencil yam, is a vine of eastern and northern Australia.[1][2]
The leaves are heart-shaped, shiny, with 5-7 prominent veins. The seed pods are rounded, green or pink before drying to a straw brown papery texture. The edible tubers are typically slender and long. There are two forms: an eastern rainforest and wet sclerophyll form which doesn't have bulbils, and a northern form which occurs in open forests and has small bulbils and large inground tubers.[3]
Uses
[edit | edit source]The tubers were a staple food of Australian Aboriginals and are eaten after cooking, usually in ground ovens.[3] The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that common names included "long yam", Indigenous Australians from Central Queensland referred to it as "kowar" and that "the small young tubers are eaten by the aborigines without any preparation."[4]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]- Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney, Dioscorea transversa
- Plantnet New South Wales Flora Online, Dioscorea transversa R.Br.
- Atlas of Living Australia, Dioscorea transversa R.Br. Common Yam Vine
- Dioscorea transversa at Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants
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