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Dioscorea zingiberensis is a climbing yam from subtropical China and Vietnam, grown for its rhizomes, which are a source of diosgenin used to make steroid hormones. It is a field crop rather than a typical houseplant, so the key is to give it a warm, frost-free season and well-drained soil.
Dioscorea zingiberensis, is a species of yam, a tuberous root vegetable. It has been cultivated in China for the production of diosgenin, an important pharmaceutical intermediate for the synthesis of steroid hormones. The rhizomes also produces steroidal saponins (TSS) as part of a treatment for cardiovascular disease.
Dioscorea abysmophila · Dioscorea abyssinica · Dioscorea acanthogene · Dioscorea acuminata · Dioscorea aesculifolia · Dioscorea aguilarii · Water yam · Dioscorea alatipes · Dioscorea althaeoides · Dioscorea amaranthoides · Dioscorea amazonum · Dioscorea analalavensis
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Dioscorea zingiberensis 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.
