name: Mountain Yam
flavor_db_name_variants: mountain yam
source: foodb
status: draft
food_db_id: Mountain yam
id: 411
name_scientific: Dioscorea pentaphylla
description: Dioscorea pentaphylla is a species of flowering plant in the yam family known by the common name fiveleaf yam. It is native to tropical Asia or eastern Polynesia, and it is present elsewhere as an introduced species. This species is a prickly vine that twines counterclockwise around objects and other plants. It may reach 10 meters in length. The alternately arranged leaves are compound, divided into 3 to 5 leaflets each up to 10 centimeters long. The plant produces horseshoe-shaped bulbils about a centimeter long. New plants can sprout from the bulbils. Flowers are borne in spikes. The vine grows from a tuber. Specimens may be 3 pounds in weight and may be located over a meter underground. The tubers of the vine can be cooked and eaten.
itis_id: 43379
wikipedia_id: Dioscorea pentaphylla
picture_file_name: 417.jpg
picture_content_type: image/jpeg
picture_file_size: 74561
picture_updated_at: 2012-04-20T09:42:48.000Z
legacy_id: 444
food_group: Vegetables
food_subgroup: Tubers
food_type: Type 1
created_at: 2011-02-09T00:37:40.000Z
updated_at: 2019-05-14T18:05:24.000Z
creator_id: null
updater_id: null
export_to_afcdb: false
category: specific
ncbi_taxonomy_id: 167592
export_to_foodb: true
public_id: FOOD00411