Scientific Name: Dioscorea Transversa
Common Name: Long Yam
Turrbal Name: Tarm (Petrie, 1904. Watson, 1944)
Indigenous Use
Root dug with yam stick, prepared and cooked in the ashes, then eaten. Some people prepared the yams by crushing and washing in water before cooking. Small tubers were eaten raw. Petrie observed that the women would have to dig 3 feet sometimes for this root.
Image Source: Toowoomba Plants
When to Use
The tubers can be eaten all year round.
Identification
Leaves: The leaves of Dioscorea transversa are heart-shaped and alternate, typically measuring 5-13 cm in length and 20-80 mm in width. They are glabrous, with a glossy dark green upper surface and a duller, sometimes purplish underside. The leaf base is cordate or rarely hastate, and the tips are acuminate (PlantNET, 2024; Lucidcentral, 2024).
Stems: Dioscorea transversa features annual twining stems that can reach up to 4 meters long. These stems are hairless and arise from a deep, tuberous root system (Bushcraft Survival Australia, 2024).
Flowers: This species is dioecious, meaning that individual plants are either male or female. Male flowers are small, greenish, and arranged in spikes 3-6 cm long, while female flowers are in elongated racemes 10-20 cm long. Each flower has six tepals arranged in two whorls (Lucidcentral, 2024).
Fruit: The fruit is a capsule, ± globose, 20-30 mm long, with three wings. The seeds are flat and surrounded by a papery wing, which aids in wind dispersal. The capsules turn fawn to brownish and sometimes purplish as they mature, usually in winter (PlantNET, 2024; Bushcraft Survival Australia, 2024).
Ecosystems
Found in the below ecosystem/s.
Rainforests: Sub-tropical rainforests usually consist of three strata of trees with up to 60 species making up the canopy, many with large leaves. Palms and strangler figs are common and the undergrowth is luxuriant with many epiphytic or terrestrial ferns and orchids and abundant large climbers of many species. In Queensland, rainforests can be found in well-known locations like the Daintree Rainforest, Lamington National Park, and Mary Caincross Park.
References
PlantNET (2024). Dioscorea transversa. Available at: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Dioscorea~transversa [Accessed 22 June 2024].
Lucidcentral (2024). Dioscorea transversa. Available at: https://apps.lucidcentral.org/plants_se_nsw/text/entities/dioscorea_transversa.htm [Accessed 22 June 2024].
Bushcraft Survival Australia (2024). Native Long Yam/Pencil Yam. Available at: https://bushcraftsurvivalaustralia.com.au/plant-guide/native-long-yam-pencil-yam/ [Accessed 22 June 2024].
Petrie, Constance, Tom Petrie’s Reminiscences of Early Queensland. Angus and Robertson, 1975, (facsmile of 1904 edition)
Leiper, G., Glazebrook, J., Cox, D., & Rathie, K., 2008. Mountain to Mangroves: A Field Guide to the Native Plants of South-east Queensland. Logan River Branch, Society for Growing Australian Plants.
Watson, F.J., Vocabularies of Four Representative Tribes of South Eastern Queensland. Supplement to the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia. (Queensland), No 34 Vol XLVIII Brisbane