Named after Pedanios Dioscorides, Greek physician and herbalist of the first century A.D.

Dioscorea sativa L.

Stems sometimes bearing axillary bulbils. Fruit a 3-lobed capsule, dehiscing around the lobe margins. Seeds ovate, flat, winged.

A genus of c. 600 species, five in northern and eastern Australia, of which two are endemic, two indigenous or of pre-European introduction and one of recent introduction. Some species yield raw material used for synthesizing the steroid cortisone. Widely cultivated or collected for edible tubers and bulbils in the old world tropics. Some species must be treated to make them suitable for human consumption.

Some species yield raw material used for synthesizing the steroid cortisone. Widely cultivated or collected for edible tubers and bulbils in the old world tropics. Some species must be treated to make them suitable for human consumption.

Burkill, I.H. (1951). Dioscoreaceae, FloraMalesiana ser. 1, 4(3): 299–335.

Telford, I.R.H. (1986). Dioscoreaceae, in George, A.S. (ed.), Flora of Australia 46: 196–202.

Data derived from Flora of Australia Volume 46 (1986), a product of ABRS, ©Commonwealth of Australia