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Dioscorea Praehensilis
''Dioscorea praehensilis'' is a species of yam in the genus ''Dioscorea'' native to Africa. It is the wild progenitor of the West African domesticated crops ''Dioscorea rotundata'' and ''Dioscorea cayennensis''. It is a liana A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a ta ... with an edible tuber root found in African rainforests and seasonal tropical forests. The roots reach their maximum starch reserves during the dry season. The species renews its stems every year at the start of the rainy season. References Flora of West Tropical Africa Flora of West-Central Tropical Africa Flora of East Tropical Africa Flora of South Tropical Africa praehensilis {{monocot-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yam (vegetable)
Yam is the common name for some plant species in the genus ''Dioscorea'' (family Dioscoreaceae) that form edible tubers. Yams are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in many temperate and tropical regions, especially in West Africa, South America and the Caribbean, Asia, and Oceania. The tubers themselves, also called "yams", come in a variety of forms owing to numerous cultivars and related species. Yams were independently domesticated on three different continents: Africa ('' Dioscorea rotundata''), Asia ('' Dioscorea alata''), and the Americas ('' Dioscorea trifida''). Etymology The name "yam" appears to derive from Portuguese ''inhame'' or Canarian (Spain) ''ñame'', which derived from West African languages during trade. However in both languages, this name commonly refers to the taro plant (''Colocasia esculenta'') from the genus '' Colocasia'', as opposed to ''Dioscorea''. The main derivations borrow from verb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dioscorea
''Dioscorea'' is a genus of over 600 species of flowering plants in the family Dioscoreaceae, native throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. The vast majority of the species are tropical, with only a few species extending into temperate climates. It was named by the monk Charles Plumier after the ancient Greek physician and botanist Dioscorides. Description Wild Yam (''Dioscorea'') is a vine that is invasive, deciduous, and herbaceous. This species is native to Asia, though, in the U.S., it is commonly found in Florida. They can grow over in length. Wild yams are an important crop, as they have been used to prevent menstrual cramps, stomach cramps, and general pain for centuries. During the 1950s scientists found that the roots of wild yams contained diosgenin which is a plant-based estrogen; diosgenin is hypothesized to aid in chemical defense against herbivores. This was used to create the first birth control pills during the 60s. In addition, some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dioscorea Rotundata
''Dioscorea cayenensis'' subsp. ''rotundata'', commonly known as the white yam, West African yam, Guinea yam, or white ñame, is a subspecies of yam native to Africa. It is one of the most important cultivated yams. Kokoro is one of its most important cultivars. It is sometimes treated as separate species from ''Dioscorea cayenensis''. Domestication Its wild progenitor is '' Dioscorea praehensilis'' and possibly also '' D. abyssinica'' (by hybridization). Domestication occurred in West Africa, along the south-facing Atlantic coast. There is insufficient documentation and insufficient research to guess how long ago that occurred. Distribution ''D. c.'' subsp. ''rotundata'' is grown in West Africa, including countries such as Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dioscorea Cayennensis
''Dioscorea cayenensis'' is a species of yam in the genus ''Dioscorea'' that is a widely consumed West African domesticated crop. ''Dioscorea rotundata ''Dioscorea cayenensis'' subsp. ''rotundata'', commonly known as the white yam, West African yam, Guinea yam, or white ñame, is a subspecies of yam native to Africa. It is one of the most important cultivated yams. Kokoro is one of its most imp ...'' is sometimes treated as a subspecies, and sometimes also as a separate species. Common names include Guinea yam, yellow yam, and yellow Guinea yam. It may be a triploid hybrid between the cultivated '' D. rotundata'' and the wild '' D. burkilliana''. References cayenensis Yams (vegetable) Flora of West Tropical Africa Crops originating from Africa {{monocot-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liana
A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a taxonomic grouping, but rather a habit of plant growth – much like ''tree'' or '' shrub''. It comes from standard French ''liane'', itself from an Antilles French dialect word meaning to sheave. Ecology Lianas are characteristic of tropical moist broadleaf forests (especially seasonal forests), but may be found in temperate rainforests and temperate deciduous forests. There are also temperate lianas, for example the members of the '' Clematis'' or '' Vitis'' (wild grape) genera. Lianas can form bridges amidst the forest canopy, providing arboreal animals with paths across the forest. These bridges can protect weaker trees from strong winds. Lianas compete with forest trees for sunlight, water and nutrients from the soil. Forests wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora Of West Tropical Africa
Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora as in the terms ''gut flora'' or ''skin flora''. Etymology The word "flora" comes from the Latin name of Flora, the goddess of plants, flowers, and fertility in Roman mythology. The technical term "flora" is then derived from a metonymy of this goddess at the end of the sixteenth century. It was first used in poetry to denote the natural vegetation of an area, but soon also assumed the meaning of a work cataloguing such vegetation. Moreover, "Flora" was used to refer to the flowers of an artificial garden in the seventeenth century. The distinction between vegetation (the general appearance of a community) and flora (the taxonomic composition of a community) was first made by Jules Thurma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
