Wild yam is a member of the Yam family. The yams are vining plants with 600 known species, 71 of which are native to North America (67 species in Mexico).¹² In many species of yam, the rhizome (tuber) serves as both a food and a medicine.¹²

Dioscorea villosa, the species common in North Carolina, is a perennial vine that grows in moist thickets and hedges.^12,13 It has a reddish-brown stem, heart-shaped leaves with prominent veins, and inconspicuous greenish yellow flowers from September to October.

Farmers cultivate yams as a food source and harvest the roots in the fall.¹¹ Herbalists prepare medicines from fresh or dried root. The taste is initially bland and then acrid.^2,11