Kingdom Plantae Family Dioscoreaceae Scientific name Dioscorea transversa People also search for Dioscorea floridana | Order Dioscoreales Genus Dioscorea Rank Species | |
Dioscorea transversa, Pencil yam, is a vine of eastern and northern Australia.
The leaves are heart-shaped, shiny, with 5-7 prominent veins. The seed pods are rounded, green or pink before drying to a straw brown papery texture. The edible tubers are typically slender and long. There are two forms: an eastern rainforest and wet sclerophyll form which doesn't have bulbils, and a northern form which occurs in open forests and has small bulbils and large inground tubers.
Uses
The tubers are a staple food of Australian Aboriginals and are eaten after cooking, usually in ground ovens.
References
Dioscorea transversa Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA