Dioscoreaceae
Dioscorea

Dioscorea cotinifolia Kunth

First published in Enum. Pl. 5: 386 (1850)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is S. Mozambique to S. Africa. It is a climbing tuberous geophyte and grows primarily in the subtropical biome.

Descriptions

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/100890102/100890104

Conservation
LC - least concern
[IUCN]

J. R. Timberlake, E. S. Martins (2009). Flora Zambesiaca, Vol 12 (part 2). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Type
Type South Africa, Cape Province, Morley, 2.ii.1832, Drège 4500 (KIEL† holotype, K).
Morphology General Habit
Twining vine to 10 m, stem annual-Tubers several per plant, ovoid to pyriform, to 5 cm long, usually on short to long stout roots
Morphology General Indumentum
Indumentum absent
Morphology Stem
Stems left-twining, wiry, unarmed, axillary bulbils not observed
Morphology Leaves
Leaves usually opposite, blade entire, ovate to orbicular or transversely elliptic, thickly papery, apex obtuse to acuminate, rarely emarginate, with a 1–2 mm long triangular brown apiculus, oblong cystoliths present in blade; cataphylls and lateral nodal flanges absent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence simple, male simple or compound, flowers 1–4 mm apart, solitary or in pairs, axis often flexuous
sex Male
Male flower urn-shaped; outer tepals 1.3–2.1 0.5–1.4 mm, ovate to broadly so or elliptic, thickly papery; inner tepals 1.1–1.5 0.5–0.8 mm, narrowly elliptic or narrowly oblong to lanceolate or spathulate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule 1.6–3.3 1.4–2.4 cm; seed winged at apex.
Distribution
Mozambique. Also in South Africa and Swaziland. In open dry forest, forest margins, scrubby vegetation and rocky places; sea level to 400 m (1800 m in South Africa).
Phenology
Flowering in November and December; fruiting from late November onwards.
Conservation
Conservation notes Widespread species; not threatened.
Recognition
The relatively small, opposite leaf with a triangular brown apiculus, urn-shaped male flowers, and apically winged seed in oblong to pyriform fruit are distinctive.
[FZ]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Uses

Use
In S Mozambique the pulp of the tuber is regarded as edible.
[FZ]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0