Cush Cush Yam (Dioscorea trifida)

Family: Dioscoreaceae | Edibility: Choice Edible (4/5)

Dioscorea trifida or Cush Cush Yam is a perennial climbing plant with a tuberous rootstock and twining stems about 3 m long. It can be found in northern part of South America where it is widely cultivated for its edible tuber. The tubers can be boiled or baked. It is a flowering plant. The flowers are green with six tiny tepals in the axils. The fruit is a winged, lightly hairy capsule.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Roots/Tubers

Harvest Seasons: Fall, Spring, Winter

Flavor & Culinary Uses

rich flavour that is readily appreciated and sufficiently moist in the mouth. — Boiled or baked, some forms have an excellent flavour.; The cooked flesh is smooth in texture, attractive and of an unusually rich flavour that is readily appreciated and sufficiently moist in the mouth.; Roots are about 15 - 20cm long and 6 - 8cm in diameter.; The tuber is about 38% waxy starch that lacks amylose and has potential uses as a binder and thickener in food processing.

Habitat & North American Range

Not known. (Zone 10)