Bako
Dioscorea bako
Family: Dioscoreaceae
What it is like
Dioscorea bako is a stem-twining herbaceous yam vine with male and female flowers on separate plants (like most Dioscorea species) to 5 m in height. Its tubers can attain 1.5 m in length and 5.5 kg in weight. Above ground, its leaf lower surface is greyish-green and the leaf margins usually shallowly and irregularly lobed. Its male inflorescences are borne on short specialised leafless shoots towards the stem base, and possess dense, overlapping hairy bracts for most of their length, giving a catkin-like appearance. The small and inconspicuous flowers are found between the bracts. Female flowering plants have not yet been seen, but the capsular fruits are 3-winged and obovate (egg-shaped with the narrow end at the base) to narrowly obovate-oblong in outline, and contain basally winged seeds like most of the species' close relatives in Madagascar. (Taken from Kew website)
It is an at risk species.
Where it is found
It is a tropical plant.
Countries/locations it is found in
Africa, East Africa, Madagascar
How it is used for food
It is a popular food plant.
Edible parts
Tubers, root