Purple yam (ube), dioscorea alata
Type : Bulbs


Dioscorea alata, commonly known as water yam or winged yam, is a fast-growing, twining, tuberous-rooted, herbaceous perennial vine of the yam family (Dioscoreaeae). It produces a large root crop of edible subterranean tubers (yams) which are an important starchy food source in many tropical to sub-tropical areas around the globe. This species is probably the most important and extensively cultivated of the edible yams, with significant cultivation occurring in the West Indies, West Africa, Southeast Asia and Central America.

Quadrangular purplish-winged stems (to 30’ or more) are clad with long-petioled, broad-ovate, bright green leaves (to 6-8” long) featuring 5-7 conspicuously sunken veins and cordate to arrowhead-shaped bases. Leaves are primarily opposite, but appear alternate near the base. Stems are herbaceous and not woody. Monoecious yellow-white flowers appear in pendant axillary racemes (male flowers in panicles to 6-12” long and female flowers in shorter racemose spikes). Female flowers produce three-parted capsule fruits with winged seeds. Edible conical bulbils (aerial tubers to 4” long) sometimes form in the leaf axils. Flowering, fruiting and bulbil production are uncommon in more temperate frost-free areas such as the southeastern U. S. Tubers for human consumption are usually harvested at the end of a single growing season. Unharvested tubers will increase in size from year to year with the potential of reaching gigantic dimensions over time (to 6-8’ long and to 100-150 pounds).