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Dioscorea villosa
Also called Colic Root, Yam Root, Chinaroot, Yellow Yam, Four Leaved Yam, Wild Yam Root
Wild yam is a twining, tuberous vine native to eastern North America, grown mainly for its medicinal root. It is hardy and tolerant of a range of conditions, growing well in woodland edges and partial shade.
Dioscorea villosa is a species of twining tuberous vine which is native to eastern North America. It is commonly known as wild yam, colic root, rheumatism root, devil's bones, and fourleaf yam. It is common and widespread in a range stretching from Texas and Florida north to Minnesota, Ontario and Massachusetts.
Dioscorea villosa contains diosgenin, which despite claims is not a phytoestrogen and does not interact with estrogen receptors. Other steroidal saponins are also found in the plant.
Dioscorea abyssinica · Water yam · Air yam · Yellow guinea yam · Black Bryony · Yam · Elephant's Foot · Wild Yam · Elephant's Foot Yam · Lesser yam · Yam · Dioscorea fordii
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Dioscorea villosa 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.
