In article >, "Chuck" > wrote:
>There is also a yam which grows in the southern Mexico wooded areas that is
>edible but rather than Ipomea it is related to the Dioscorea group
>(spelling?) and also has weak birth control properties. (I think diosgenin
>is extracted from it, A preproduct of birth control medications. )

My purple yam is shooting again -- in fact it had >50 new shoots
spread over several metres at last count. The root "tubers" are
edible, but the purple colour is a bit of a worry and I would never
had tried the things if I hadn't been told by reliable sources that I
could eat it. It also has aerial tubers (bulbils?) which will grow if
planted, but I don't know if they are edible (some of these things
aren't). Frankly, I reckon yams are over-rated and I probably
wouldn't eat them by choice beyond curiosity.

One of the local supermarkets has recently been flogging another type
of yam and, judging by how clean the things are, I suspect they might
actually be edible aerial tubers in this case. Pale buff skin and
pure white flesh with even a suggestion of translucence. The texture
is light and crisp -- rather "refreshing" eaten raw, but bugger all
flavour. (Rather like the tubers of _Pachyrhizus tuberosa_ in fact.)


Cheers, Phred.

--
LID