Over the year we have grown a wide-cut ambit of eatable staple fibre theme , both tropic and temperate .
Thus far , we ’ve cultivated the following yam coinage :
Air spud yam ( D. bulbifera)Chinese yam ( D. polystachya)Fiveleaf yam ( D. pentaphylla)Greater yam ( D. alata)Lesser yam plant ( D. esculenta)Name yam plant ( D. cayenensis subsp . rotundata )
And we ’ve grown :
ArrowrootCannaCarrotCassava ( Yuca)CeleriacDaikonEddoesGroundnut ( Apios americana)Jerusalem artichokeJicamaParsnipPotatoPotato mintRutabagaSweet potatoTanniaTaroTurnipYacon
… and a few more I ’m sure I ’ve missed .
Yet the other 24-hour interval , I establish a radical that stumped me .
We were locomote home from our new child ’s baptism when I stop for a mo at the Saigon Market market in Pensacola to see if they had any dissimilar sugarcane varieties for sales event . There , I found a bin of strange root , and bought four of them :
These foreign slight thing are only about 8″ in duration .
Judging by the skin , they were a true yam ( Dioscoreaspecies ) . Yet I had never ascertain any this size and shape , with skin barren of haired roots .
This is what a violet ube yam look like :
And these are less yam plant :
And the other yams I ’ve seen and mature also do n’t count like them . They ’re either shaped differently , or are much bombastic , or have a different color , or have lots of hairy tooth root on their sides .
I tried usingmy best-loved Plant ID websiteand it claimed they were tamarind tree or possibly “ stink toe ” :
Nope , that ’s not it . And it ’s a demented guess , since both tamarind and stinking toe ( West Indian locust ) are legume tree seedcase . You ca n’t always trust Plant ID apps , though they are a good place to start .
When the plant ID land site failed , I then perform a rearward epitome hunting and got some fascinating result :
Ah - ha ! It ’s a spinosaur tooth ! That ’s it !
No , that ca n’t be right either . Why would they trade fogey teeth in the produce division instead of near the plate adhesive ?
Since I was n’t have any luck on my own , Iput the picture up in a YouTube postand asked for help with identification .
There were a lot of guesses , with some commenters claim they were a type of sweet white potato vine , or a eccentric of yam I already knew , or a variety of cassava .
However , odorous potatoes look like this :
Yet sweet potato skin do not have that hoary - brown wrinkly texture in any cultivar I ’ve ever seen .
And the skin of cassava ascendent definitely does n’t take care like the roots I found , as its coarser and usually ruby - browned :
Another person guessed it was taro , but taro looks like this :
Nope , emphatically not cocoyam .
And then , we make a winner on the shot !
After doing a fast search forDioscorea trifida , neferacroom3273 was substantiate correct . give thanks you ! We had our root !
allot toPlants for a Future ’s write up onDioscorea trifida :
“ Cush cush yam plant is a recurrent climbing plant producing twining stems about 3 measure long from a tuberous rootstock . These stems scramble over the ground , or twine into the surrounding vegetation . The plant is widely cultivated in tropical areas , specially S. America and the Caribbean , for its eatable root . ”
Once I had the name cush cush , I recollect my neighbor Derek in Grenada telling me cush cush was a very unspoiled yam assortment “ from the earlies , ” ( meaning “ the old day ) but was n’t so rough-cut on the island anymore . In fact , my Grenadian ally Mike once yield me a piece of it to grow when we first moved to the island , though I lost the flora when we afterwards moved to our flat . The folio on that vine were different from other yam plant leaves , as you’re able to see on the PFAF page linked above , and I never really got a good facial expression at an entire root .
AsJames M. Stevens at UF drop a line :
“ Cushcush is one of the lesser fuck cultivate metal money of tropical yam plant . Other common names are yampi ( Jamaica ) , aja ( Cuba ) , maona ( Peru ) , mapuey ( Puerto Rico ) , and cara doce ( Brazil ) . Cushcush is aboriginal to the Caribbean where it is love as the best of the yams because of its flavor and cooking qualities .
In general , yam have never become as important a staple food in the Americas as they have in Africa , Asia , and the Pacific Islands because the same nutrient intent are served by sweet potatoes , cassava starch , and coco - yams . Cushcush is used throughout South America , Trinidad , and the West Indies , but not as a staple owing to the mien of cassava . It is highly probable that cushcush could be turn in Florida , but at present it is rarely grown or recognized by gardener . vine of other Dioscorea species are grown as ornamental that do well in North and South Florida . ”
He further writes :
“ Cushcush , like other tropical yams , is perennial , surviving untoward time of year via the Tuber . It is best bring about as an annual engraft early in the natural spring and harvested 10 to 11 months later . It is a tender season crop and does not abide below freezing temperatures . acquire cushcush is similar to growing potatoes , except for trellis . Plant small , whole tubers or with child tubers trend into 2 - ounce pieces . Pieces charter from the upper portion of the tuber have more eyes and bring out more stems and tubers than do seedpieces taken lower on the tuber . Because of the vining habit of the industrial plant , stakes 6 to 9 feet in distance are used . Weak stakes and ill supported trellis will be pulled down by the vigorous vine .
crop of genus Tuber follows planting by about 10 to 11 months in climatical areas similar to South Florida . The foliation decease back when genus Tuber are about quick to be moil . Spade or furcate them out of the soil much as you would potatoes . yield of cushcush be given to be much lower than for other forms of yam plant , such as D. alata . The tubers , which contain 7 % protein and 38 % starch , may be baked whole or discase and swerve for boiling . ”
If 10 - 11 months of growing is rightfully required , it ’s a bit moth-eaten here to grow cush cush ; however , we ’re plain going to try it anyhow .
There are somegood icon of the roots at this internet site , where they also offer cush cush roots for purchase .
We ’ll have to try growing some in the garden and some in the greenhouse . I have no thought whether or not they ’ll sprout quickly or look for calendar month before emerging , so I ’m going to put some in well - run out soil in the glasshouse to see what happens . I ’ll get you know if they grow .
Thank you all for the help on YT guesses – I ’m very glad we were able to pin down the exact species . If you live in South Florida or a similar non - freezing mood , this could be a good improver to your listing of selection theme crop . If you get ascendant , try out and see and let me know how you do !
