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Dioscorea rupicola Kunth

Species

Angiosperms > Dioscoreales > Dioscoreaceae > Dioscorea

Characteristics

Stems very slender, very twining, glabrous; leaves alternate; petiole 3/4-1 in. long; blade simple, cordate-hastate, 51-76 mm [as '2-3 in.'] long and broad, membranous, bright green, shallowly 5-lobed with a large deltoid, mucronate, central segment triplinerved from base to apex, and two small orbicular lobes on each side of the spreading base; male flowers in lax subspicate racemes 51-76 mm [as '2-3 in.'] long with a flexuose glabrous axis; pedicels very short, subtended at the base by a pair of minute bracts; perianth campanulate, 1/8-1/6 in. diam. when expanded; segments ovate, acute; fertile stamens 3; filaments 2-3 times as long as the minute subglobose anthers; rudimentary pistil absent; female spikes lax, solitary, simple, 4-4 1/2 in, long; bracts ovate acuminate, 1/4 as long as the glabrous ovary; perianth with 3 minute staminodia; fruit unknown.
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Dioecious climber, up to 3.0 m high; tuber with 1-3 branches; glabrous. Leaves petiolate, hastate, 5-7-lobed, 140 x 110 mm, base obtuse to cordate, apex aristate, ± 2 mm long. Male inflorescences: racemes, ± 80 mm long, pendent. Male flowers ± 30; perianth yellowish green, campanulate; filaments ± 1.5 mm long; anthers transversely elliptic; staminodes absent. Female inflorescences spicate, ± 100 mm long. Female flowers: perianth yellowish green, rotate; staminodes 3; ovary ± 8-10 mm long; stigmatic surfaces bilabiate. Flowering time Nov.-Apr. Fruit a capsule, 30 x 20 mm, broadly ovoid. Seeds 2 per locule.
A yam. It is a vine. The vine ca be 8 m long. The flowers are brownish-green. The tuber can be 80 cm across and 3 m long.
Creeper. Leaves simple, ovate, base cordate-hastate with large central lobe. Stamens 3. Female flowers in lax spikes.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support climber
Foliage retention -
Sexuality dioecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 3.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

It is a subtropical plant. It needs a rich, well-drained soil.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) -

Usage

Caution: The tubers are poisonous unless properly prepared. The tubers are boiled for 12 hours until the bark slips off.
Uses medicinal poison
Edible roots tubers
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seeds.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) 21 - 36
Germination temperacture (C°) 21 - 23
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Distribution

Dioscorea rupicola world distribution map, present in South Africa

Conservation status

Dioscorea rupicola threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:318533-1
WFO ID wfo-0000394832
COL ID 36D89
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Dioscorea rupicola
WorldFloraDB 2024