• Family : DIOSCOREACEAE
  (Yam Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : BANA ALU FAMILY (बन आलु)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : DIOSCOREACEAE
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Dioscorea tomentosa J.König ex Spreng.
• Vernacular name : Nalvelikizhangu (Tamil); Taraga (Oria); Nunetige chettu, Buridigaddy, Tegam dumpa, Nalla tiga, Nadang, Adavi denda-tiga (Telugu); Chavali, Inckkachil, Inthikachil, Nuli, Noolamkizhangu, Chavankizhangu, Pindi (Malayalam)
• Habit : Climber
• Habitat : Semi-evergreen, moist and dry deciduous forests
• Comments / notes : Frequent in forests
• Flower, Fruit : July-December
• Collector(s) Name : Arun Singh R, Raja K.Swamy & Rajasri Ray
• Collection Date : 12-09-2014; 12-09-2014; 12-09-2014
• Collection Nos : HJCB-E-45 (♂); HJCB-E-62 (♀); HJCB-E-74 (♂)
• Collection Locality : Pungalam R.F., Jawadhu Hills, Tiruvannamalai district (TN)
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Throughout Andhra Pradesh
  • Kerala : Kasaragod district, Wayanad district, Kozhikode district, Malappuram district, Palakkad district, Thrissur district, Idukki district, Kottayam district, Pathanamthitta district, Kollam district, Thiruvananthapuram district
  • Maharashtra : Mumbai Suburban district, Mumbai-City district
  • Odisha : Ganjam district, Dhenkanal district, Mayurbhanj district, Angul district, Koraput district
  • Tamil Nadu : Throughout
• World Distribution : India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : J.L.Ellis, 1990- Flora of Nallamalais Vol. 2; H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 3; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa; B. D. Sharma, S. Karthikeyan & N. P. Singh 1996 - Flora of Maharashtra state - Monocotyledons; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (2). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Raja K Swamy, Deepak Kumar, Arun Singh R. and K. Gopalakrishna Bhat (2019). Flora of Peninsular India. http://peninsula.ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Dioscorea tomentosa. Downloaded on 1 June 2025.

Botanical Description

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