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[[File:Dioscorea praehensilis 18.jpg|thumb|branch with leaves]][[File:Dioscorea praehensilis 5-1.jpg|thumb|tuber]][[File:Dioscorea praehensilis 13.jpg|thumb|leaf shapes]][[File:Dioscorea praehensilis 5-2.jpg|thumb|fruit (left) and seed]]
<big>''[[Dioscorea praehensilis]]'' Benth.</big>
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Dioscorea praehensilis'' (PROTA)}}
== Synonyms ==
*''Dioscorea cayenensis'' Lam. var. ''praehensilis'' (Benth.) A.Chev.
== Vernacular names ==
*Bush yam, forest yam, white yam (En). *Igname de brousse, igname sauvage (Fr).
== Origin and geographic distribution ==
== Botany ==
*Dioecious climbing herb up to 15 m long; tuber up to 60 cm long, flesh white with yellow tinge, with bitter purple layer below the skin, armed with a crown of thorny roots; stem 1–2 cm in diameter, slightly ribbed longitudinally, spiny, often waxy, glabrous, purplish-green. *Leaves opposite, occasionally alternate, simple; petiole 2.5–5 cm long; blade ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 4–10 cm × 3–5 cm, deeply cordate at base, acute at apex, entire, 5–7-veined; basal leaves often strongly reduced. *Inflorescence an axillary spike; male ones 3–5 together, flexuous, 3–5 cm long; female ones 1–2 together, pendulous, 10–25 cm long. *Flowers unisexual, perianth segments in 2 rows of 3, 1–1.5 mm long; male flowers with 6 stamens; female flowers with inferior, 3-celled ovary. *Fruit a deeply 3-lobed capsule 2–2.5 cm × 3 cm, 3–6-seeded. *Seeds winged all round, 1.5–2 cm long.
It has been suggested that ''Dioscorea praehensilis'' is one of the parents of the cultivated ''Dioscorea cayenensis'' Lam., together with other species of the section ''Enantiophyllum'' such as ''Dioscorea abyssinica'' Hochst. ex Kunth and ''Dioscorea burkilliana'' J.Miège.
== Ecology ==
''Dioscorea praehensilis'' grows in forest, often secondary forest, and along forest margins up to 700(–1600) m altitude.
== Management ==
== Author(s) ==
* W.J. van der Burg , PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
== Correct citation of this article ==
van der Burg, W.J., 2004. '''Dioscorea praehensilis''' Benth. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>.
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[[Category:PROTA]]
[[Category:Vegetables (PROTA)]]