- Family : DIOSCOREACEAE
(Yam Family)
- Family (Hindi name) : BANA ALU FAMILY (बन आलु)
- Family (as per The APG System III) : Dioscoreaceae
- Synonym(s) : Helmia bulbifera (L.) Kunth; Dioscorea bulbifera var. vera Prain & Burkill
- Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Dioscorea bulbifera L.
- Common name : Potato yam, Air potato, Bulb bearing yam
- Vernacular name :
- Hegga genasu (Kannada)
- Pannukizhangu (Tamil)
- Vaarahee (Sanskrit)
- Godri, Gorkan, Kadu-kand, Karanda (Marathi)
- Pitakanda (Oria)
- Bana alu, Goicha alu, Pita alu, Cucur alu (Hindi)
- Chedupaddu dumpa, Malakakaya pendalamu, Pendlam (Telugu)
- Alanthal, Kattukachil, Nukappa, Pannikizhangu (Malayalam)
- Habit : Climber
- Comments / notes : Often on hills climbing on thickets along roadsides, on bushes of scrub and deciduous forests.
- Flower, Fruit : July-March
- Distribution :
- Andhra Pradesh : Anantapur district, Chittoor district, Y.S.R. Kadapa district, East Godavari district, Guntur district, Krishna district, Kurnool district, S.P.S. Nellore district, Prakasam district, Srikakulam district, Visakhapatnam district, Vizianagaram district, West Godavari district
- Telangana : Nalgonda district, Khammam district, Mahbubnagar district
- Karnataka : Kolar district
- Kerala : All districts of Kerala
- Maharashtra : All districs of Maharashtra
- Odisha : Common in Odisha
- Tamil Nadu : All the hills
- Madhya Pradesh : Hoshangabad district
- Uttarakhand : Uttarakhand
- Sikkim : Sikkim
- Himachal Pradesh : Himachal Pradesh
- Arunachal Pradesh : Kameng, Lohit, Siang, Subansiri, Tirap
- Meghalaya : Meghalaya
- Assam : Assam
- Nagaland : Nagaland
- Delhi : Delhi
- Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
- Jammu and Kashmir : Jammu and Kashmir
- Mizoram : Mizoram
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands : Andaman Islands
- Manipur : Manipur
- Tripura : Tripura
- Lakshadweep : Lakshadweep
- Native : Andaman Islands, Angola, Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Borneo, Burkina, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Caprivi Strip, Caroline Islands, Central African Repu, Chad, China, Christmas Island, Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissa
- Exotic/Native : Native
- World Distribution : Andaman Islands, Angola, Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Borneo, Burkina, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Caprivi Strip, Caroline Islands, Central African Repu, Chad, China, Christmas Island, Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Islands, Hainan, India, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jawa, Kenya, Korea, Lakshadweep Islands, Laos, Lesser Sunda Islands, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaya, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, New Guinea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tibet, Togo, Uganda, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
- 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
- N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka
- B. D. Sharma, S. Karthikeyan & N. P. Singh 1996 - Flora of Maharashtra state - Monocotyledons
- Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (2). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983
- Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI
- Pullaiah, 1997. Fl. Andhra Pradesh, vol. 3.
- H J, Chowdhery, et al. Materials for Flora of Arunachal Pradesh. Volume 3, Botanical Survey of India, 2009. Pg.: 188
- Read more :
- Permalink : http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Dioscorea bulbifera
- Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Flora Online. http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Dioscorea bulbifera. Downloaded on 29 January 2026.
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