WILD YAM 



Dioscorea villosa L. 



June 



River bottom woods 



III lli(> rich soil of river bottoms in Illinois, 

 |i;irl iciilarly southwnnl thi'oii.uh the state, ;i 

 ])laut wliicli is kin to crrt.iin tnipitjil spiH-ics 

 thrives and hlossoms and sets its seeds. This is tlie wild yam. 



It has a tuberous root whieh apj)arently is not used a,s food. The 

 dried root of one species, however, is ii-ed as inediciiie. The hoart-shai)ed. 

 satiny leaves are deejily veined and are among the most beautiful leaves 

 to be found in Illinois. They grow from a tough, thin, twining stem 

 which binds itself around sturdier plants and climiis and dangles in the 



deep shadows of the rivel-hottoill lui-e-t-. 



Wild yam in .lime is in bloom. It bears sprays of flagrant, cream- 

 colored llowers suggesting those of the cultivated Madeira vine. In 

 autumn the fruits appear in ornamental clusters td' angled, winged, oval 

 seeds, artistic in shades of ludwii. 



Wild yam is one of the pronuuiuit vines of the river lowlands. In 

 tlu'se humid, alluvial haunts many vines seem to thrive. In the habitat 

 of ]n"oth()notary warblers and Carolina wiens, of stinging nettles and 

 paw|)aw trees, of Hood waters and caked dry soil between Hoods, the wild 

 yam. star cucund)er. trumjict vine, bitterswe(>t, aiul wild grajjc are fouiul. 

 Here in the shadowy bottondands where the sycamores grow huge and 

 white and hollow and provide sleej)ing (juartcrs for owls and raccoons 

 and squirrels, the wild yam sends up its tendrils and its wiry stems. It 

 fe.stoons itself over thi> pawpaw trees and the wahoos aiul the old horse- 

 weeds of the year before. It is not a high-clind)ing vine like the grape.s 

 and trumpet vines; it stays low and neat and its heart-shaped leaves hold 

 their satiny gleam all sunnner long. 



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