Chinese yam
Dioscorea polystachya · Yam family
Plant portrait
Chinese yam carries twining stems and develops a long underground tuber.
Harvested part
The cultivated tuber, intended for suitable culinary preparation.
What to watch for
Watch the climbing stems; foliage does not reveal tuber length.
Growth stages of the Chinese yam
Plotilo illustrates the Chinese yam in 5 stages in 3D: seed, small sprout, young plant, growing and harvest. The models show typical shapes; they do not predict how long growth takes.
- Seed
Starting from a seed. It is shown on the surface to make it visible in this illustration.
- Small sprout
A short first stem and its first small leaves emerge.
- Young plant
The young plant carries more leaves and starts to take its own shape.
- Growing
Leaves and stems develop. Their shape depends on the species.
- Harvest
An illustration of the harvested part. Roots are made visible for clarity; this image does not confirm actual maturity.
Same botanical family
No other plant from the yam family is in the Plotilo catalogue yet.