208 MEDICINAL PLANTS OF JAMAICA. 



decree. A drachm of it to two pounds of sarsaparilla de- 

 coction is useful in confirmed lues, chronic rheumatisms, and 

 pains of the bones from lues or the yaws. 



45. Dioscorea alata. — Negro Yam. 



bulbifera. — White Yam. 



sativa. — Wild Yam. 



triphylla. — Yampee. 



The two first species are cultivated in provision-grounds ; 

 the slips are climbers, and furnished with poles, like hops. 

 They are planted in the spring, and are ripe about Christ- 

 mas. The roots are very large ; some from thirty to forty 

 pounds weight. They will keep for several months, and are 

 in daily use as food. Yams, roasted or boiled, eat like pota- 

 toes, but are rather of a coarser texture. They are dressed 

 in various forms, being boiled in soups or broth, &c. made 

 into pudding, or roasted in the fire. They yield also a con- 

 siderable quantity of starch. 



The wild yam is a native of the woods in Jamaica. The 

 stem is angulated, and finely serrated. If any one lays hold 

 of this vine, it cuts the hand like a knife. The roots are flat, 

 digitated, and large ; they are yellow coloured, and very bit- 

 ter: they purge people unaccustomed to eat them; but are 

 the chief support of the runaway Negroes who abscond from 

 the plantations. 



The yampee, till of late years, was little known to the white 

 inhabitants. The leaf is different from the others ; the roots 

 are about six inches long, and two inches in diameter : there 

 are about twelve of such to one slip or vine. The Maroons, 

 or mountain Negroes, plant them, and bring them down to 

 the low lands. They keep a few weeks. The yampee, boil- 

 ed or roasted, is a most delicious root, and far preferable to 

 potatoes. 



(The leaves and stem of the Negro yam are of a thicker 

 texture than the white yam. The skin is black, and the roots 



