《中国植物志》|| 薯蓣科 DIOSCOREACEAE ||周生翅组 Sect. Enantiophyllum Uline ||参薯 Dioscorea alata L.

48. 参薯（种子植物名称）云饼山药（云南腾冲）脚板薯（通称）图版37: 1-6
Dioscorea alata L. Sp. Pl. 1033. 1753; C. H. Wright in Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. 36: 90. 1903; Hayata，Ic. Pl. Formoc. 10: 42, f. 22. 1921; Merr. in Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 24 (2): 112. 1935; Prain et Burkill in Ann. Bot. Gard. Calcutta 14 (2): 302. 1939，pl. 123-125. 1938; 中国高等植物图鉴 5: 568,图7965. 1976; 海南植物志4: 152. 1977; T. S. Liou et T. C. Huang Fl. Taiwan 5: 100. 1978.——D. alata var. purpurea (Roxb.) M. Pouch. in Bull. Econ. Indo-China n. s. 8: 117. 1950; T. S. Liou et T. C. Huang, l. c.
缠绕草质藤本。野生的块茎多数为长圆柱形，栽培的变异大，有长圆柱形、圆锥形、球形、扁圆形而重叠，或有各种分枝，通常圆锥形或球形的块茎外皮为褐色或紫黑色，断面白色带紫色，其余的外皮为淡灰黄色，断面白色，有时带黄色。茎右旋，无毛，通常有4条狭翅，基部有时有刺。单叶，在茎下部的互生，中部以上的对生；叶片绿色或带紫红色，纸质，卵形至卵圆形，长6-15 (-20) 厘米，宽4-13厘米，顶端短渐尖、尾尖或凸尖，基部心形、深心形至箭形，有时为戟形，两耳钝，两面无毛；叶柄绿色或带紫红色，长4-15厘米。叶腋内有大小不等的珠芽，珠芽为球形、卵形或倒卵形，有时扁平。雌雄异株。雄花序为穗状花序，长1.5-4厘米，通常2至数个簇生或单生于花序轴上排列呈圆锥花序，圆锥花序长可达数十厘米；花序轴明显地呈“之”字状曲折；雄花的外轮花被片为宽卵形，长1.5-2毫米，内轮倒卵形；雄蕊6。雌花序为穗状花序，1-3个着生于叶腋；雌花的外轮花被片为宽卵形，内轮为倒卵状长圆形，较小而厚；退化雄蕊6。蒴果不反折，三棱状扁圆形，有时为三棱状倒心形，长1.5-2.5厘米，宽2.5-4.5厘米；种子着生于每室中轴中部，四周有膜质翅。花期11-翌年1月，果期12-翌年1月。
根据 D. Prain et I. H. Burkill 的意见，本种可能原产于孟加拉湾的北部和东部，以后传布到东南亚、马来西亚、太平洋热带岛屿以至非洲和美洲。我国浙江、江西、福建、台湾、湖北、湖南、广东、广西、贵州、四川、云南、西藏等省区常有栽培。
块茎作蔬菜食用；部分地区作“淮山药”入药，有滋补强壮的作用。

《云南植物志》|| 薯蓣科 Dioscoreaceae ||薯蓣属 Dioscorea Linn. ||参薯 Dioscorea alata Linn.

15．参薯（广州）
青山药（耿马），黎洞薯、大薯（广东），甘薯（古籍），四楞薯、四楞山药（景洪、小勐养）
Dioscorea alata Linn. (1753); Hook. f. (1892); Prain et Burkill (1914); Knuth in Engl. (1924); Prain et Burkill (1938); Burkill (1951); 广州植物志 (1956); 图鉴 (1976)*; 海南植物志 (1977).
块茎直伸，形态多变；圆柱形、棒状、球形、梨形、指状或各式分裂，皮褐色至黑色，内面白色、乳白色或紫色。茎右旋，无刺，基部常粗糙或具疣，攀高可达10米，四方形，通常在极基部以上有4翅，无毛；叶腋有珠芽。叶于茎基部互生，后对生，叶片纸质，卵状心形、心状长圆形、近箭形或戟状卵形，稀截状三角形，先端短渐尖，两面无毛，长8—16厘米，宽5—8厘米；基出脉7—9条；叶柄与叶片近等长，有时具紫色的叶枕。雄花序在无叶的腋生枝条上排成圆锥花序式，雄花序15枚以上，2—3序束生，下部的分枝，长2—3厘米，上部的不分枝；花密，间距不及1毫米；花蕾扁或球形，长1毫米。雌花序单生叶腋，穗状，下弯，但坚实，常长达35厘米，具棱或基部具狭翅，疏花。蒴果压扁时横肾形，先端略下凹，钝，长17—20毫米，宽3—4.4厘米；果梗长3—4毫米；种子周围具膜翅。花、果期9—11月。
云南大部分地区栽培或野生，海拔500—1800米，野生者多见于阳性灌丛或林缘、草坡。广东、广西、福建、湖南、湖北、江西、贵州、四川都有。分布于东南亚各地，各热带地区广泛栽培。
块茎供蔬食，为江南各省园圃栽培作物之一。亦供药用。

《Flora of China》|| Dioscoreaceae || Dioscorea ||参薯 Dioscorea alata

51. Dioscorea alata Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 1033. 1753.

参薯 shen shu

Dioscorea alata Image Credit: O. Tellez

《Flora of North America》|| Dioscoreaceae || Dioscorea || Dioscorea alata

4. Dioscorea alata Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 1033. 1753.

White yam, greater yam, water yam

Plants tuberous; tubers 1–many, stalked and ± deeply buried, elongate (highly polymorphic), often massive, weighing up to several kg, flesh starchy, white or variously colored. Stems twining clockwise, climbing up to 20 m, broadly winged, 4-angular, producing bulbils up to 4 cm in diam. in leaf axils, wings often purplish. Leaves alternate proximally, opposite and ultimately decussate distally, 6–16 × 4–13 cm; petiole ca. as long as blade, winged, base clasping, basal lobes stipulate, growing as extensions of wings, less than 1 mm wide; blade 5–7-veined, ovate, glabrous, base typically sagittate, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate. Staminate inflorescences axillary, 1–2 per axil, paniculate, fasciculate; panicles bearing flowers singly, bracteolate, in a zigzag pattern along rachis, internodes less than 2 mm; rachis to 25 cm, secondary axes 1–3(–6), fasciculate, less than 3 cm, each subtended by deltate-ovate bracteole shorter than 1 mm. Pistillate inflorescences solitary, 4–8(–20)-flowered, 6–35 cm, internodes ca. 1 cm. Staminate flowers: perianth whitish, cup-shaped; tepals ca. 1 mm, connate at base in 2 subequal whorls, outer widely ovate, inner narrower, apex obtuse to rounded in both; fertile stamens 6 in 2 equal whorls; anthers longer than filaments, thecae distinct, not spreading. Pistillate flowers: perianth lightly colored; tepals broadly ovate, ca. 1 mm, fleshy; staminodes 6, smaller than fertile stamens. Capsules not reflexed at maturity, broadly ovate, ca. 2 × 3.5 cm. Seeds winged all around. 2n = 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80.

Flowering late summer; fruiting into late fall. Near ponds, marshes, drainage canals, waste areas; 0 m; introduced; Fla., Ga.; Southeast Asia; cultivated worldwide.

Dioscorea alata is the most extensively cultivated of the edible yams. There are hundreds of cultivars worldwide (L. Degras 1993; D. G. Coursey 1967), varying in the color and consistency of the flesh. The bulbils may also be eaten, but the large tubers are favored. Typically the plants are propagated vegetatively. The species is not known to exist in the wild, and its putative origin is from Southeast Asia. It has escaped from cultivation in the southeastern United States, recorded here from Florida and Georgia, although it is likely to be found elsewhere in the Gulf states. The plants seldom flower in the flora area; I observed no staminate flowers at all, and very few pistillate ones. Although the fruits do set seed, the seeds are frequently unviable.