Dioscorea villosa L.

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Dioscoreaceae

• Scientific Name

  Dioscorea villosa L.

• Description

  Species Description - Rhizomes relatively slender; stems twining counterclockwise, to 5 m, usually glabrous; lvs all or nearly all alternate, the blades glabrous or hairy beneath, cordate- ovate, abruptly acuminate, 5–10 cm, 7–11-nerved; staminate infl widely branched, with 1–4 fls per node; pistillate spikes 5–10 cm, with solitary fls; ovary fusiform, 5–7 mm; fr 16–26 mm, each of the 3 thin valves semi-orbicular or half-ovate; seeds 8–18 mm; 2n=60. Moist open woods, thickets, and roadsides; Conn. and N.Y. to Minn., s. to Fla. and Tex. June, July. Some coastal-plain plants with hairy stem and relatively few-fld infls have been segregated as var. hirticaulis (Bartlett) Ahles. (D. hirticaulis)

• Common Names

  colic-root