North Carolina Wildflowers, Shrubs, & Trees

by Jeffrey S. Pippen | Back to Jeff's Plant Page | Jeff's Nature Pages

Dioscoreaceae > Dioscorea (yam)
	Whorled Wild Yam (Dioscorea quarternata) Mountain roadside in Madison Co., NC 9 June 2009 Wild Yam is fairly common in woodlands throughout NC.
	Whorled Wild Yam (Dioscorea quarternata) Buncombe Co., NC 29 Apr 2006 Easily recognized by the whorl of strongly veined, heart-shaped leaves toward the base of this vine (leaves become alternate toward the tip of the vine).
	Whorled Wild Yam (Dioscorea quarternata) Mountain roadside in Madison Co., NC 9 June 2009 Plants in Dioscorea are either male or female. These are male flowers.
	Whorled Wild Yam (Dioscorea quarternata) Mountain roadside in Madison Co., NC 9 June 2009 This taxon was formerly considered a subspecies or variety of D. villosa, depending upon the author.

Annotated habitat and distribution information listed above is from Radford, Ahles, & Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. UNC Press; and from personal observations and discussions with Will Cook, Harry LeGrand, and Bob Wilbur. Common names from personal experience and supplemented by the following resources USDA plants website, Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia, and NatureServe.