Arrowleaf Yam is a perennial herb with climbing stems.
Tubers are small, somewhat spindle-shaped. Stems are hairless, twining
anticlockwise. Leaves are usually opposite, simple, 7.5-13 cm long, 2-9
cm broad, variable, ovate, heart-shaped or arrow-shaped with round
basal lobes or triangular, entire, tapering, hairless 9-nerved;
leaf-stalk 6.5 cm long. Male spikes are 2.5-4 cm long, 1-2 together in
the axils or sometimes forming leafless panicles; stamens 6, all
antheriferous. Female spikes are 5.5-12 cm long, solitary or 2
together, in leaf-axils. Capsules are 2 cm long, 3 cm broad, obovate
with a retuse tip or inverted-heart-shaped. The tubers are prized for
culinary purposes and sold in bazaars. It is commonly found in the
foothills, rising up to about 1400 m. Flowering: September-October.
Identification credit: Seema Bin Zeenat, Dinesh Valke
Photographed in Rajouri, J&K & Prabalmachi, Maharashtra.
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The flower labeled Arrowleaf Yam is ...