Dioscorea.] 
CXLV. DIOSCOREACE-iE. 
315 
cent on nerves, hairy all over elliptic-oblong or oblanceolate 
shortly cuspidate, 4 in. long, 1-25 in. wide, median one the biggest; 
petiolules -i in. long or 0; petioles slender, 3 to 3-5 in. long. Male 
spikes unknown. Female spikes 6 in. long, with distant flowers 
red pubescent. Ovary *15 in. long, pubescent, narrowed to tip. 
Petals and sepals glabrous. Fruit oblong, -5 in. long, *25 in. wide. 
Hab. Cultivated ground in hedges. Malacca (Maingay). Negri 
Sembilan, Kendong and Tampin (Burkill). Penang Town (Burkill). 
Distrib. Indo-Malaya; Polynesia, Native name: Ubi Chiabet. 
(5) D. bulbifera Linn. Sp. PL 1035. D. sativa Thunb. FI. 
Jap. 191; Ridl. Mat. ii. 84. 
A long moderately stout unarmed climber bearing numerous 
round brown flattened tubers 3 in. across or more in the axils. 
Leaves light green, herbaceous ovate cordate acuminate, glabrous, 
3 to 6 in. long, 3 to 5 in. wide, petioles 4 in. long, slender. Male 
spikes in pairs fascicled or panicled, 1 to 1-5 in. long. Flowers 
white. Sepals narrow linear, lanceolate acute. Stamens 6. 
Female flowers in spikes fascicled or panicled, 4 to 10 in. long. Cap¬ 
sule oblong, 1 in. long, wings large. Hab. Waste ground and 
village compounds. Singapore, Tanglin; Changi. Johor, Kwala 
Tebing Tinggi. Malacca (Maingay). Negri Sembilan, Seremban. 
Selangor, Kwala Lumpur; Batu Caves (Burkill); Bukit Rajah 
Estate, Klang (Burkill). Perak, Ipoh (Burkill). Penang, Water¬ 
fall. Distrib. Indo-Malaya, China, Japan, Australia. Native 
names : Akar Kumili hutan; Ubi Kistale. 
Burkill and Prain mention a number of varieties, of which the penin¬ 
sular form seems to be all var. sativa. The yams were not considered by the 
Javanese coolies as fit to eat. 
(6) D. aculeata Linn. Amoen. Acad. iv. 131. D. fasciculata 
Roxb. Hort. Beng. 72; Hook. fit. F.B.I. vi. 296. 
Tubers produced in a bunch, roots spiny; stem rather slender 
prickly below, unarmed above. Leaves broadly cordate, abruptly 
acute, sinus deep, lobes round, glabrous or hairy beneath, 3 to 3-5 in. 
long, 3*5 to 4-5 in. wide; petioles slender hairy, 4 in. long. Male 
flowers 1 or 2 together in a long woolly spike-like raceme 6 to 7 in. 
long. Perianth woolly outside nearly sessile, lobes 6 lanceolate. 
Stamens insert near the edge. Hab. Kedah, Gunong Kuang 
(Burkill). Distrib. India and Malay isles. Often cultivated, 
(7) D. polyclades Hook. fit. F.B.I. vi. 294; Ridl. Mat. ii. 
81. 
Stems stout, pubescent, base thorny. Leaves ovate-cordate 
cuspidate, hairy on both sides, especially beneath, 2-5 to 3 in. 
long, 2 to 2-5 in. wide; petioles 2 to 3 in. long, tomentose. 
Young leaves thin, elliptic cordate, 6 in. long, 3-5 in. wide. Male 
panicles 1 to 2 ft. long, long branched; branches spreading, 6 in. 
long, with 6 to 10 spikes in a whorl, *5 in. long; all tomentose. 
Flowers green tomentose. Sepals ovate. Petals elliptic. Cap- 
