Common Name:

General Information

Dioscorea quartiniana is a hairy, herbaceous perennial climbing plant with stems up to 6 metres long growing from a tuberous rootstock. The thin stems twine to the left, growing into other plants for support or scrambling over the ground[].
The tubers are harvested from the wild for local use as a food. Although most commonly viewed as a famine food, the plant is also occasionally cultivated as a food crop in parts of east Africa and is sometimes sold in local markets[, ]. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental[].

Known Hazards

The fruits and roots are reported to be poisonous[].
The tubers need to be treated in order to remove a toxic principal[].

Botanical References

Range

Through much of tropical Africa - from Sierra Leone to Ethiopia, south to S. Africa, Madagascar.

Habitat

Openings in upland and lowland rainforest, riverine forest and at forest edges, termite mounds, scrub and thickets, often on hillsides and near rock outcrops and grasslands, at elevations from 100 - 2,300 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Habit	Perennial Climber
Height	5.00 m
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of low to moderate elevations in the moist tropics. In Tanzania it grows in areas where the mean annual rainfall is in the range 800 - 1,900mm[].
Often found in the deep shade of other vegetation[]. Tolerates a wide range of soil types[].
A very variable species[].

Edible Uses

Tubers - cooked[]. The tubers are peeled and soaked in water for several days; then they are washed, sliced and dried in the sun; the dried slices are pounded into flour and used for uji or ugali[]. The dried flour can be stored[].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -

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