Dioscorea cayenensis subsp. rotundata
Species of yam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dioscorea cayenensis subsp. rotundata, commonly known as the white yam, West African yam,[1] Guinea yam, or white ñame, is a subspecies[2] of yam native to Africa. It is one of the most important cultivated yams.[3] Kokoro is one of its most important cultivars.
| Dioscorea cayenensis subsp. rotundata | |
|---|---|
| |
| White yam | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Dioscoreales |
| Family: | Dioscoreaceae |
| Genus: | Dioscorea |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | D. c. subsp. rotundata |
| Trinomial name | |
| Dioscorea cayenensis subsp. rotundata (Poir.) J.Miège | |
It is sometimes treated as separate species from Dioscorea cayenensis.[1]
Domestication
Its wild progenitor is Dioscorea praehensilis[1] and possibly also D. abyssinica (by hybridization).[4] Domestication occurred in West Africa, along the south-facing Atlantic coast. There is insufficient documentation and as of 2009[update] insufficient research to determine how long ago that occurred.[5]
Distribution
D. c. subsp. rotundata is grown in West Africa, including countries such as Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria.[6]
Linguistics
Blench (2006) reconstructs the tentative Proto-Niger-Congo (i.e., the most recent common ancestor of the Niger-Congo languages) root -ku for D. rotundata.[1]
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