Tuesday, October 4, 2011

potato time


Shan yao (Dioscorea oppositifolia)

I've blogged about air potato—a.k.a. Chinese yam, a.k.a. Shan yao, a.k.a tater vine—before, when the plants were just starting to leaf out: small, heart-shaped, full of youth and vigor.

Now, the leaves are beginning to fade, and it's air potato time; tiny, little tater time.The fruits are actually called bulbils. (Don't you love that word?) I wonder if you could make small potato chips from these pea-sized spuds.

-Photo taken along Will Skelton Greenway near the Tennessee River in Knoxville

1 comment:

Patricia Lichen said...

Teeny tiny taters! You folks sure have some curious things growing in TN. Do you know if they're really edible?