Dioscorea villosa explained

Dioscorea villosa is a species of twining tuberous vine which is native to eastern North America. It is commonly known as wild yam, colic root, rheumatism root, devil's bones, and fourleaf yam.[1] It is common and widespread in a range stretching from Texas and Florida north to Minnesota, Ontario and Massachusetts.[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Description

Dioscorea villosa flower petal color is commonly known to be green to brown, or white. Lengths of the flower petals range from 0.5to. The flowers tend to grow out of the axil; this is the point at which a branch or leaf attaches to the main stem. There is only one flower present on the inflorescence. The fruit of the plant is a capsule that splits and releases the seeds within to then begin the dispersal process[7] The fruit of Dioscorea villosa ranges in size from NaNmm.[8] The flower does not produce aerial bulblets.

Taxonomy

Synonyms of Dioscorea villosa include Dioscorea hirticaulis and Dioscorea villosa var. hirticaulis. Common names of Dioscorea villosa include wild yam, Atlantic yam, common wild yam, wild yam-root, yellow yam, colic root, and rheumatism root.[9] [10] [11]

Chemistry

Dioscorea villosa contains diosgenin, which despite claims is not a phytoestrogen and does not interact with estrogen receptors.[12] Other steroidal saponins are also found in the plant.

Medical use

Some of the English common names of this plant reflect its use in Native American and other traditional medicines.[13] Native Americans in the southeast cultivated this plant.[14] In traditional Russian herbal medicine, saponin extracts from the roots of various varieties of wild yam are thought to be an anticoagulant, antisclerotic, antispasmodic, cholagogue, depurative, diaphoretic, diuretic and a vasodilator.[15]

There is little modern clinical research on Dioscorea villosa, and the one study of a wild yam-containing cream for menopausal symptoms failed to find any value from this therapy.[16] According to the American Cancer Society, there is no evidence to support wild yam or diosgenin being either safe or effective in humans.[17]

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Liber Herbarum II . Gotfredsen . Erik . 16 Dec 2018 . 27 Dec 2018.
  2. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=241123 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  3. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242101571 Flora of North America
  4. Govaerts, R., Wilkin, P. & Saunders, R.M.K. (2007). World Checklist of Dioscoreales. Yams and their allies: 1-65. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  5. http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Dioscorea%20villosa.png Biota of North America Program, 2013 county distribution map
  6. Web site: United Plant Savers . 1 July 2018 . 27 Dec 2018 . 1 April 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190401050554/https://unitedplantsavers.org/wild-yam-dioscorea-villosa-d-spp/ . dead .
  7. Web site: Dioscorea villosa (wild yam): Go Botany. 2021-11-11. gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org.
  8. Web site: Dioscorea villosa (Colic root, Wild Yam, Yam-root) North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. 2021-11-11. plants.ces.ncsu.edu.
  9. Web site: NatureServe Explorer 2.0. 2021-11-11. explorer.natureserve.org.
  10. Web site: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin. 2021-11-11. www.wildflower.org.
  11. Web site: Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa). 2021-11-11. www.illinoiswildflowers.info.
  12. Medigović I, Ristić N, Živanović J, Šošić-Jurjević B, Filipović B, Milošević V, Nestorović N . 2014 . Diosgenin does not express estrogenic activity: A uterotrophic assay . Can J Physiol Pharmacol . 92 . 4 . 292–8 . 10.1139/cjpp-2013-0419 . 24708211 . .
  13. Book: Austin, DF . 2004 . Florida Ethnobotany . limited . Boca Raton. CRC Press . 267 . 9780849323324.
  14. Book: Swanton, John Reed . The Indians of the southeastern United States . 1979 . Washington : Smithsonian Institution Press . Internet Archive . 978-0-87474-895-6.
  15. Zevin, Igor Vilevich. A Russian Herbal. 1997. Rochester, Vermont: Healing Arts Press. p.146-47.
  16. Geller SE, Studee L . 2005 . Botanical and dietary supplements for menopausal symptoms: What works, what doesn't . J Womens Health (Larchmt) . 14 . 7 . 634–49 . 10.1089/jwh.2005.14.634. 1764641 . 16181020. .
  17. Web site: Wild Yam. November 2008. American Cancer Society. 21 September 2013. 2 May 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150502110422/http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/herbsvitaminsandminerals/wild-yam. dead.

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