Dioscoraceae, Dioscorea mexicana
November 26, 2008
I found this peculiar vine growing on isla Cebaco, off the Pacific coast of Panama. It looks very closely related to Dioscorea elephantipes. As you can see in the photos, it has this very odd knobby, woody, stump. The vine, which you can see better in the second photo, can be seen growing out of the right hand side of the stump. These odd protrusions are reminiscent of a dinosaur. Unfortunately I didn’t get photos of the leaves. I did, however, collect a few nodes of the vine itself (in addition to the stump) and am expecting it to sprout back soon, as it appears to be a fairly resilient plant. Any information regarding the species would be greatly appreciated.
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Hi, could this be one of those yams (Dioscorea). I know of one that looks like the one in your photo. It is D. elephantipes, which has a woody base just like the one ou featured.
Spencer,
I have a similar woody stump, with vines, growing in my yard in Volcán. I acquired it from a backyard in Hato Chamí in the Ngobe-Buglé Comarca.
The people said that it is mostly a weedy plant with somewhat annoying thorns. However, the flesh in the stump can be pounded and thrown in a stream to stun fish for easy picking. Any unharvested fish recover.
They also told me that it is deciduous if it doesn’t get water, but can maintain its greenery in favorable conditions. The fellow then proceeded to pry the thing out of the hard ground with a stick, breaking the few roots it had. Once planted at home, the first sprouts came with the first rains.
I didn’t know this was Dioscorea until seeing your photos. Thanks!
D. elephantipes is not listed as occurring in Panama in the Catálogo de Plantas Vasculares de Panamá; D. mexicana occurs throughout the country from sea level to 2000 m.
Carla