Chinese Yam, Air Potato, Cinnamon Vine

Growth Form:  Vine

General:   Perennial, high climbing, herbaceous vine; blooms in summer and produces bulbils, small potato-like tubers in the fall.

Flowers:   Rare, small, white (green to yellow) on 4.5 in spikes, cinnamon fragrance.

Fruits and Seeds:   Rarely produce fruit, usually reproduce asexually using bulbils.

Leaves:   Alternate or combination alternate and opposite, heart-shaped to triangular, elongated tips, 4-8 by 2-6 in., long petioles. Dark green turning bright yellow in fall.

Stems or Branches:   Twining and covering vegetation, branching, hairless. All stems dying back in wnter leaving some small bulbils attached.

Threatens:   Floodplain and upland forests, riparian corridors, savannas, drainage ways in full sun to full shade.

Look-Alikes:   Wild Yam (D. villosa), a native, leaves are heart shaped, twines counter clockwise, leaves alternate, no bulbils. Smilax.

Distribution:   Native to Asia, introduced to U.S. in 1800s as potential food source. Present throughout the NE and SE and OK, KS.

Other Links:  

http://www.invasive.org/browse/subject.cfm?sub=4527
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=DIOP