Dioscorea bulbifera

File:Leiden University Library - Seikei Zusetsu vol. 22, page 031 - 黄獨 - Dioscorea bulbifera L., 1804.jpg agricultural encyclopedia]]

Dioscorea bulbifera is a perennial vine with broad, alternate leaves, and two types of storage organs. The plant forms bulbils in the leaf axils of the twining stems, and tubers beneath the ground. These tubers are like small, oblong potatoes. Some varieties are edible and cultivated as a food crop, especially in West Africa. The tubers of edible varieties often have a bitter taste, which can be removed by boiling. They can then be prepared in the same way as other yams, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.

Air potato can grow extremely quickly, roughly 8 inches per day, and eventually reach over 60 ft long.[http://texasinvasives.org/plant_database/detail.php?symbol=DIBU Invasives Database, TexasInvasives.org, Dioscorea bulbifera] It typically climbs to the tops of trees and has a tendency to take over native plants. New plants develop from bulbils that form on the plant, and these bulbils serve as a means of dispersal. The aerial stems of air potato die back in winter, but resprouting occurs from bulbils and underground tubers.

The primary means of spread and reproduction are by the bulbils. The smallest bulbils make control of air potato difficult due to their ability to sprout at a very small stage. The vine produces small white flowers; however, these are rarely seen when it grows in places such as Florida. The fruits are capsules.[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=200028093 Flora of North America, Dioscorea bulbifera Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 1033. 1753. ]

Air potato has been used as a folk remedy to treat conjunctivitis, diarrhoea, and dysentery, among other ailments.{{cite book |last=Duke |first=J. A. |author2=Judith L. DuCellier |title=Handbook of Alternative Cash Crops |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-tg7R4hU8hkC |year=1993 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-8493-3620-1}}

D. bulbifera is highly important to the Tiwi people of Australia, who use it in an important ceremony called kulama. During the ceremony, the tubers are ritually cooked, and eaten on the third day.{{cite book |editor1-last=Prance |editor1-first=Ghillean |editor2-last=Nesbitt |editor2-first=Mark |last1=Pieroni |first1=Andrea |author-link=Andrea Pieroni |date=2005 |title=The Cultural History of Plants |publisher=Routledge |page=36 |isbn=0415927463}}

Uncultivated forms, such as those found growing wild in Florida, can be poisonous. These varieties contain the steroid diosgenin, which is a principal material used in the manufacture of a number of synthetic steroidal hormones, such as those used in hormonal contraception.{{cite web |title=Meet the plants: Dioscorea bulbifera |publisher=National Tropical Botanical Garden |url=http://www.ntbg.org/plants/plant_details.php?plantid=4171 |access-date=2007-11-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116175549/http://www.ntbg.org/plants/plant_details.php?plantid=4171 |archive-date=2016-01-16}} There have been claims{{cite web|title=Pest Plants, Air Potato: Dioscorea bulbifera |date=Jan 2010 |work=WalterReeves.com |url=http://www.walterreeves.com/landscaping/article.phtml?cat=10&id=33 |access-date=2010-01-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061112093511/http://www.walterreeves.com/landscaping/article.phtml?cat=10&id=33 |archive-date=2006-11-12 }} that even the wild forms are rendered edible after drying and boiling, leading to confusion over actual toxicity.

In some places, such as Florida, it is considered a noxious weed because of its quick-growing, large-leafed vine that spreads tenaciously and shades out any plants growing beneath it. The bulbils on the vines sprout and become new vines, twisting around each other to form a thick mat. If the plant is cut to the ground, the tubers can survive for extended periods and send up new shoots later.{{cite web |title=Air potato takes over |work=The Nature Conservancy |url=http://www.nature.org/initiatives/invasivespecies/misc/airpotato.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070515104755/http://www.nature.org/initiatives/invasivespecies/misc/airpotato.html |archive-date=May 15, 2007 |access-date=February 10, 2013 }}

The leaf beetle Lilioceris cheni has been studied and employed as an agent of biological pest control for the plant, with releases in 2012.[http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/ea/downloads/2011/Lilioceris-airpotato.pdf Field release of Lilioceris cheni Gressit & Kimoto (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) for biological control of air potato, Dioscorea bulbifera (Dioscoreaceae), in the continental United States: Environmental Assessment.] USDA. 2011.Morgan, C. [http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/21/3014684/in-south-florida-a-tiny-new-weapon.html In South Florida, a tiny new weapon against the invasive potato vine.] Miami Herald September 21, 2012. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005195735/http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/21/3014684/in-south-florida-a-tiny-new-weapon.html |date=October 5, 2012 }}

• Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia
• Yam production in Nigeria

{{Reflist}}

• Van Wyk, Ben-Erik (2005). Food Plants of the World. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, Inc. {{ISBN|0-88192-743-0}}
• [http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/133 Dioscorea bulbifera.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124185502/http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/133 |date=2012-01-24 }} University of Florida.

{{Commons category}}

{{WestAfricanPlants|Dioscorea bulbifera}}

• [https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/terrestrial/plants/air-potato Species Profile - Air Potato (Dioscorea bulbifera)], National Invasive Species Information Center, United States National Agricultural Library. Lists general information and resources for Air Potato.

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bulbifera

Category:Flora of Africa

Category:Flora of tropical Asia

Category:Flora of China

Category:Flora of Eastern Asia

Category:Flora of Australia

Category:Perennial vegetables

Category:Plants described in 1753

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

Category:Yams (vegetable)

Category:Austronesian agriculture