PLANT PROFILE

Discorea villosa
wild yam



Dioscorea villosa

Dioscorea villosa
Dioscorea villosa
Photos courtesy Renee Brecht
Britton & Brown
Botanical name: Dioscorea villosa  L.
Common name: wild yam
Synonomy: Dioscorea¬Ýhirticaulis
Group: monocot
Family: Dioscoreaceae
Growth type: vine
forb/herb
Duration: perennial
Origin: native
Plant height: 5 - 15"
Foliage: long pointed, heart shaped
Flower: drooping racemes, yellow to green flowers; staminate and pistillate in separate clusters
Flowering time: bloom late May to late July; fruits mid July to late September and persists
Habitat: moist, open soil of shaded edges, roadsides, woods, and swamps
Range in New Jersey: statewide, decreasing on the Outer Coastal Plain
Heritage ranking, if any: n/a
Distribution: