Dioscorea bulbifera L.

 
  • 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, Kadapa district, East Godavari district, Guntur district, Krishna district, Kurnool district, Nellore district, Prakasam district, Srikakulam district, Vishakapatnam district, Vizianagaram district, West Godavari district
    • Telangana : Nalgonda district, Khammam district, Mehboobnagar 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
    • 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 :
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2024). India Flora Online. http://indiafloraonline-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Dioscorea bulbifera. Downloaded on 8 December 2024.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)

India Distribution

World Distribution

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