Dioscorea cayenensis subsp. rotundata

Dioscorea cayenensis subsp. rotundata
	White yam
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Dioscoreales
Family:	Dioscoreaceae
Genus:	Dioscorea
Species:	D. cayenensis
Subspecies:	D. c. subsp. rotundata
Trinomial name
	Dioscorea cayenensis subsp. rotundata ; (Poir.) J.Miège

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.

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]

References

^ a b c d Blench, Roger (2006). Archaeology, language, and the African past. Altamira Press. ISBN 9780759104655.
^ The Plant List: Dioscorea cayenensis subsp. rotundata
^ USDA PLANTS profile for Dioscorea rotundata
^ Sugihara, Yu; Kudoh, Aoi; Oli, Muluneh Tamiru; Takagi, Hiroki; Natsume, Satoshi; Shimizu, Motoki; Abe, Akira; Asiedu, Robert; Asfaw, Asrat; Adebola, Patrick; Terauchi, Ryohei (2021). "Population Genomics of Yams: Evolution and Domestication of Dioscorea Species". Population Genomics. doi:10.1007/13836_2021_94.
^ Purugganan, Michael D.; Fuller, Dorian Q. (2009). "The nature of selection during plant domestication". Nature. 457 (7231). Nature Research: 843–848. Bibcode:2009Natur.457..843P. doi:10.1038/nature07895. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 19212403. S2CID 205216444.
^ Biodiversity and domestication of yams in West Africa: Traditional practices leading to Dioscorea rotundata Poir. Roland Dumont et al. 2005, CIRAD-IPGRI

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[AfricanPast-1] Blench, Roger (2006). Archaeology, language, and the African past. Altamira Press. ISBN 9780759104655.

[2] The Plant List: Dioscorea cayenensis subsp. rotundata

[guinea_yam-3] USDA PLANTS profile for Dioscorea rotundata

[4] Sugihara, Yu; Kudoh, Aoi; Oli, Muluneh Tamiru; Takagi, Hiroki; Natsume, Satoshi; Shimizu, Motoki; Abe, Akira; Asiedu, Robert; Asfaw, Asrat; Adebola, Patrick; Terauchi, Ryohei (2021). "Population Genomics of Yams: Evolution and Domestication of Dioscorea Species". Population Genomics. doi:10.1007/13836_2021_94.

[Purugganan-Fuller-2009-5] Purugganan, Michael D.; Fuller, Dorian Q. (2009). "The nature of selection during plant domestication". Nature. 457 (7231). Nature Research: 843–848. Bibcode:2009Natur.457..843P. doi:10.1038/nature07895. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 19212403. S2CID 205216444.

[Dumont_etal-6] Biodiversity and domestication of yams in West Africa: Traditional practices leading to Dioscorea rotundata Poir. Roland Dumont et al. 2005, CIRAD-IPGRI