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Dioscorea abyssinica is a climbing yam from tropical Africa that grows from a large underground tuber. It needs a warm, seasonally dry climate with a support to climb, and is mainly grown for its starchy tubers.
Dioscorea abyssinica is a herbaceous vine in the genus Dioscorea native to several Central African countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan.
The plant's starchy tubers are edible and are either harvested from the wild or cultivated; however, they are difficult to obtain due to the depth at which they grow in the soil. It is propagated by seed.
Water yam · Air yam · Yellow guinea yam · Black Bryony · Yam · Elephant's Foot · Wild Yam · Elephant's Foot Yam · Lesser yam · Yam · Dioscorea fordii · Intoxicating yam
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Dioscorea abyssinica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
