Dioscorea japonica

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Dioscoreaceae

Herbs twining or woody vines , rarely erect , small herbs. Rootstock rhizomatous or tuberous . Stem twining to left or right , pubescent or glabrous , sometimes prickly. Leaves alternate or opposite, petiolate , simple or palmately compound , basal veins 3--13, interstitial veins reticulate; leaflets of palmately compound leaves often ovate or lanceolate. Flowers usually unisexual (when plants dioecious, rarely monoecious), sometimes bisexual , solitary, clustered, or in cymules , these in a spike, raceme , or thyrse , these sometimes grouped into panicles. Male flowers: perianth lobes 6, in 2 whorls, basally connate or free ; stamens 6, sometimes 3 reduced to staminodes or absent, inserted on perianth or receptacle; ovary rudimentary or absent. Female flowers: similar to male ones; staminodes 3, 6, or absent; ovary inferior, 3-loculed, ovules usually 2 per locule (more than 2 in a few small genera), placentation axile ; styles 3, free. Fruit a capsule, berry, or samara. Seeds with a membranous wing or not; endosperm present; embryo small.

About nine genera and 650 species: widely distributed in tropical and temperate regions , especially in tropical America; one genus and 52 species (21 endemic, two introduced ) in China.[1]

Genus Dioscorea

Herbs twining . Rootstock rhizomatous or tuberous , variable in color, shape , chemical constituents, and depth in ground . Bulblets axillary or absent. Leaves alternate or opposite, petiolate , simple or palmately compound , basal veins 3--9. Flowers unisexual (plants dioecious, rarely monoecious), arranged spirally in axillary, usually elongate spikes or racemes , or in small cymules in ± spikelike thyrses , these often several together, sometimes gathered into a terminal or axillary panicle by reduction of subtending leaves. Male flowers: stamens 6, 3 sometimes reduced to staminodes or absent. Female spikes 3.5--10 cm, few flowered. Female flowers: staminodes 3, 6, or absent. Capsule 3-winged, dehiscent apically at maturity. Seeds with a membranous wing .

More than 600 species: widely distributed in tropical and temperate regions ; 52 species (21 endemic, two introduced ) in China.

Dioscorea is a genus of great economic value, including important food plants. Several species are widely cultivated in many cultivars (including Dioscorea alata D. esculenta D. japonica and D. polystachya), while other, wild species are valuable famine foods. Other species are sources of drugs both in traditional Chinese and Western medicine (notably D. nipponica and D. zingiberensis which are major sources of steroid precursors) .[2]

Physical Description

Habitat

Mixed forests and margins , scrub forests, herb communities, mountain slopes , valleys, along rivers and streams , roadsides; 100--1200 m [3].

Biology

Growth

Culture: Space 12-15" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 6.1 • Maximum pH: 8.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade.

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a. (map)

Taxonomy

Notes

Publishing author : Thunb. Publication : Nova Acta Regiae Soc. Sci. Upsal. iv . 39 (1783); Thunb. Fl. Jap. 151 (1784).

Similar Species

Members of the genus Dioscorea

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 47 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

D. alata (Purple Yam) · D. altissima (Dunguey) · D. bulbifera (Aerial Yam) · D. bulbifera var. bulbifera (Air Potato) · D. cayenensis (Yellow Guinea Yam) · D. cayennensis (Yellow Guinea Yam) · D. cirrhosa (Dyeing Yam (Philippines)) · D. communis (Lady´s-Seal) · D. composita (Yam) · D. convolvulacea (Yam) · D. cylindrica (Wild Yam) · D. deltoidea (Wild Yam) · D. discolor (Ornamental Yam) · D. dumetorum (Bitter Yam) · D. elephantipes (Elephants Foot) · D. esculenta (Chinese Yam) · D. floribunda (Yam) · D. floridana (Florida Yam) · D. glabra (Chinese Yam) · D. hemicrypta (Dioscorea) · D. hispida (Intoxicating Yam) · D. japonica (Glutinous Yam) · D. kamoonensis (Kamoon Yam) · D. macrostachya (Yam) · D. macrostachys (Elephants Foot) · D. mexicana (Barbasco) · D. nummularia (Yam) · D. oppositifolia (Chinese Wild Yam) · D. pentaphylla (Five-Leaf Yam) · D. pilosiuscula (Bulbous Yam) · D. polygonoides (Mata Gallina) · D. praehensilis (Bush Yam) · D. prazeri (Wild Yam) · D. preussii (Preuss' Dioscorea) · D. purpurea (Podicherry Sweet Potato) · D. quaternata (Fourleaf Wild-Yam) · D. rotundata (Guinea Yam) · D. sagittata (Five-Leaved Yam) · D. sagittifolia (Wild Congo Yam) · D. sansibarensis (Zanzibar Yam) · D. septemloba (Seven-Lobed Yam) · D. spiculiflora (Yam) · D. sylvatica (Wild Yam) · D. tokoro (Mountain Yam) · D. tomentosa (Thorny Yam) · D. trifida (Indian Yam) · D. villosa (Colic Root)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A manual of poisonous plants, chiefly of eastern North America, with brief notes on economic and medicinal plants, and numerous illustrations, Cedar Rapids, Ia., The Torch Press, 1911. url .
• A manual of poisonous plants: chiefly of eastern North America, with brief notes on economic and medicinal plants, and numerous illustrations / by L. H. Pammel. 1911 Cedar Rapids, Ia.: The Torch Press, 1910-11. url fig. 160, p. 374.
• An elementary text-book of botany, for the use of Japanese students Tokyo, 1893. url .
• An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, Manila, Bureau of Printing, 1922-26. url p. 219.
• An introduction to the chemistry of plant products by Paul Haas and T. G. Hill. London, Longmans, Green, 1928-1929. url p. 428, p. 520.
• Annales du Jardin botanique de Buitenzorg. Suppl. 3 1910 Leiden [etc.]: E. J. Brill [etc.] url p. 37.
• Botanical publications of E.D. Merrill. [New York, etc., 1899- url p. 219.
• Bulletin of miscellaneous information /Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 1919 1919 London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1900-1941. url p. 344.
• Bulletin of the Natural History Museum. London: The Natural History Museum, c1993-2002. url p. 33.
• Bulletin of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. [Washington, D.C.?]: Supt. of Docs., G.P.O., 1913-1923. url p. 48.
• Catalogue of scientific papers (1800-1900) Comp. by the Royal society of London. Cambridge, C. J. Clay and sons, 1867-1902; url p. 223, p. 566.
• Catalogue of scientific papers, 1800-1900. Compiled by the Royal Society of London. London, C.J. Clay and Sons, 1867-1902 [etc.] Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1914-25. url p. 223, p. 566.
• Chinese materia medica. extensively revised from F. Porter Smith's work by G. A. Stuart. Shanghai?: Presbyterian Mission Press?, 1911? url p. 150, p. 151.
• Experimental evolution; lectures delivered in the "Summer School of Art and Science", University Hall, Edinburgh (August, 1891) by Henry de Varigny. and New York, Macmillan and Co., 1892. url p. 175.
• Flora Malesiana. general editor, C.G.G.J. van Steenis. Djakarta: Noordhoff-Kolff, 1950- url p. 335.
• Flora of Japan: in English: combined, much revised and extended translation / by the author of his Flora of Japan (1953) and Flora of Japan, Pteridophyta (1957); edited by Frederick G. Meyer and Egbert H. Walker. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1965. url p. 313, p. 314.
• Hand-list of herbaceous plants cultivated in the Royal Botanic Gardens. London, Printed for H. M. Stationery Off. by Darling, 1902. url p. 399.
• Icones plantarum formosanarum nec non et contributiones ad floram formosanam: or, Icones of the plants of Formosa, and materials for a flora of the island, based on a study of the collections of the Botanical survey of the Government of Formosa / By B. Hayata. .. Taihoku: Bureau of Productive Industry, Government of Formosa, 1911-1921. url p. 42, p. 49.
• International catalogue of scientific literature. London: Published for the International Council by the Royal Society of London, 1902-1919. url p. 146, p. 152, p. 366, p. 729.
• Introduction to the chemistry of plant products, by Paul Haas and T. G. Hill. London, Longmans, Green and co., 1913. url p. 317, p. 392.
• Inventory of seeds and plants imported / U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry. Washington, D.C.: G.P.O., 1914-1924. url p. 41.
• Journal and proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 4 1908 Calcutta, Asiatic Society of Bengal. url p. 454, p. 5.
• Medical mycology; fungous diseases of men and other mammals, by Carroll William Dodge. .. St. Louis, The C.V. Mosby company, 1935. url p. 747.
• Miyabe-festschrift, or A collection of botanical papers presented to Prof. Dr. Kingo Miyabe on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his academic service by his friends and pupils. Tokio, Rokumeikwan, 1911. url p. 309.
• Origin of cultivated plants / by Alphonse de Candolle. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1908. url p. 455, p. 78.
• Origin of cultivated plants, by Alphonse de Candolle. London, K. Paul, Trench, 1884. url p. 455, p. 78.
• Origin of cultivated plants. By Alphonse de Candolle. New York, D. Appleton and company, 1902. url p. 455, p. 76, p. 78.
• Origin of cultivated plants. New York, Appleton, 1892. url , , p. 455, p. 78.
• Plantae Wilsonianae; an enumeration of the woody plants collected in western China for the Arnold arboretum of Harvard university during the years 1907, 1908, and 1910, by E. H. Wilson, ed. by Charles Sprague Sargent. Cambridge, University Press, 1913-17. url p. 14, p. 388, p. 495, p. 591, p. 604.
• Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. Washington, etc.: Entomological Society of Washington url p. 176.
• Sargent, C. S. Plantae Wilsonianae: an enumeration of the woody plants collected in western China for the Arnold arboretum of Harvard university during the years 1907, 1908, and 1910 /by E. H. Wilson, ed. by Charles Sprague Sargent. 3 1917 Cambridge: The University press, 1913-17. url p. 14, p. 388, p. 495, p. 591, p. 604.
• The Asa Gray bulletin. 2 1953 Ann Arbor, Mich. url p. 240, p. xiii.
• The Book of gardening; a handbook of horticulture. London, C. Scribner's Sons, 1900. url .
• The Farmer's magazine. [London: Rogerson and Tuxford, 1834-1881. url p. 30, p. 328.
• The Florist and horticultural journal. Philadelphia, [Pa.: s.n.], 1853-1855. url , .
• The Garden: an illustrated weekly journal of gardening in all its branches. London: [s.n., url p. 171, p. 349.
• The Gardeners' chronicle and agricultural gazette. 1857 London: published for the proprietors, 1844-1873. url p. 516, p. 786, p. 818.
• The Gardeners' chronicle: a weekly illustrated journal of horticulture and allied subjects. London: [Gardeners Chronicle], 1874-1955. url p. 237, p. 749.
• The Journal of the College of Science, Imperial University of Tokyo, Japan = Tokyo Teikoku Daigaku kiyo. Rika. Tokyo, Japan: The University, 1898-1925. url p. 27, p. 29, p. 37, p. 39, p. 433, p. 5, p. 6, p. 9.
• The Journal of the Linnean Society. Botany. 36 1903-05 London: the Society: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green: ||Williams and Norgate, 1865-1968. url p. 92.
• The Review of applied entomology. Farnham Royal, Eng., etc.: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, etc. url p. 11.
• The Year-book of agriculture, or, The annual of agricultural progress and discovery / [edited] by David A. Wells. Philadelphia: Childs & Peterson, 1856. url p. 286.
• The botany of Bihar and Orissa: an account of all the known indigenous plants of the province and of the most important or most commonly cultivated exotic ones / with maps and introduction by H. H. Haines. London: Printed by Adlard and sold by agents for Indian Official Publications, 1921-25. url p. 1252.
• The flora of British India /By J. D. Hooker assisted by various botanists. Published under the authority of the secretary of state for India in council. London: L. Reeve, 1875-97. url p. 296.
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• The standard cyclopedia of horticulture; a discussion, for the amateur, and the professional and commercial grower, of the kinds, characteristics and methods of cultivation of the species of plants grown in the regions of the United States a by L. H. Bailey; illustrated with colored plates, four thousand engravings in the text, and ninety-six full-page cuts. . New York, The Macmillan Co.; [etc., etc.]1916-1917 [v.5 1916] url p. 1014.
• The year-book of agriculture: or The annual of agricultural progress and discovery for 1855 and 1856. Exhibiting the most important discoveries and improvements in agricultural mechanics, agricultural chemistry, agricultural and h by David A. Wells. Philadelphia: Childs & Peterson, 1856. url p. 286.
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• Ting Chih-tsun, Chang Mei-chen & Ling Ping-ping. 1985. Dioscoreaceae. In: Pei Chien & Ting Chih-tsun, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 16(1) : 54--120.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 13, 2007:

• National Institute of Genetics, ROIS, Herbarium Specimens of Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo Pref., Japan
• Taiwan Biodiversity Information Facility, Magnoliophyta

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2670461
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Kew-240312
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13755149
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:318123-1
• GRIN Nomen Number: 14216
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 506492
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 318123-1
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: DIJA2
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 35667

Footnotes

1. Chih-chi Ting & Michael G. Gilbert "Dioscoreaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 24 Page 276. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. "Dioscorea". in Flora of China Vol. 24 Page 276. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
3. "Dioscorea japonica". in Flora of China Vol. 24 Page 293. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

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