potato time

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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

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you say potato

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This odd little plant, known as “varahi” in Sanskrit, is a vine with heart-shaped leaves. Native to Asia and Africa, it has become widespread throughout southeastern North America.

Scientifically known as Dioscorea bulbifera; it’s a member of the yam family most noted for the bulbils that form in the leaf axils along the twining vine. The plant uses these organs to store carbohydrates, i.e. plant sugars.

Here’s where it gets curious. The bulbils look like very small Irish potatoes, which leads to the plant’s most common name in this country: air potato.

I said it was an odd little plant. Bulbils? That’s a another good Scrabble word.

-Photo taken near Baskins Creek in Gatlinburg.

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