Dioscorea strydomiana
{{Short description|Species of herbaceous vine}}
{{Speciesbox
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|display_parents=3
|genus=Dioscorea
|species=strydomiana
|status = CR
|status_system = IUCN3.1
|authority=Wilkin{{cite web |title=Dioscorea strydomiana | url=https://www.ipni.org/n/77107546-1 |website=International Plant Names Index |publisher=The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries and Australian National Botanic Gardens |access-date=26 October 2020}}
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Dioscorea strydomiana is a critically endangered species of yam (family Dioscoreaceae) from South Africa with fewer than 250 mature individuals known to exist.
Description
Dioscorea strydomiana is shrub-like, grows up to {{convert|1|m|0}} tall with an above ground tuber that is large and rough-textured, the thick bark resembling the tortoise-shell-like bark of Dioscorea elephantipes{{cite journal | last1= Wilkin | first1= P | last2= Burrows | first2= J.| title= A Critically Endangered New Species of Yam(Dioscorea strydomiana)... |journal= Kew Bulletin | date= 2010 | volume= 65 | issue=
It is dioecious and has very small flowers that are less than {{cvt|10|mm}} in diameter with six cream-coloured or white tepals which appear in late spring to early summer. The fruits resemble dry capsules that split at the ends to release seeds.
It is a recently discovered species (circa 2002), and an extremely slow growing plant, but it has great horticultural potential.
Name
The specific epithet honors the late Gerhard Strydom, a conservationist with the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency, who noticed the plant for sale at a market and tracked it down to its habitat.
Distribution
D. strydomiana's range is only limited to the Oshoek area in Mpumalanga, South Africa, near the border with Eswatini where it is found at {{convert|1100|-|1150|m|0}} above sea level.
Uses
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:Endemic flora of South Africa
Category:Critically endangered flora of Africa