This article is within the scope of WikiProject Plants, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of plants and botany on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PlantsWikipedia:WikiProject PlantsTemplate:WikiProject Plantsplant
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Food and drink, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of food and drink related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Food and drinkWikipedia:WikiProject Food and drinkTemplate:WikiProject Food and drinkFood and drink
Delete unrelated trivia sections found in articles. Please review WP:Trivia and WP:Handling trivia to learn how to do this.
Add the {{WikiProject Food and drink}} project banner to food and drink related articles and content to help bring them to the attention of members. For a complete list of banners for WikiProject Food and drink and its child projects, select here.
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Alternative medicine, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Alternative medicine related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Alternative medicineWikipedia:WikiProject Alternative medicineTemplate:WikiProject Alternative medicineAlternative medicine
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Japan, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Japan-related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project, participate in relevant discussions, and see lists of open tasks. Current time in Japan: 09:18, December 19, 2024 (JST, Reiwa 6) (Refresh)JapanWikipedia:WikiProject JapanTemplate:WikiProject JapanJapan-related
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Korea, a collaborative effort to build and improve articles related to Korea. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how use this banner, please refer to the documentation.KoreaWikipedia:WikiProject KoreaTemplate:WikiProject KoreaKorea-related
This article is within the scope of WikiProject China, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of China related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ChinaWikipedia:WikiProject ChinaTemplate:WikiProject ChinaChina-related
Text and/or other creative content from this version of Dioscorea opposita was copied or moved into Chinese Yam with this edit on February 1 2016. The former page's history now serves to provide attribution for that content in the latter page, and it must not be deleted as long as the latter page exists.
Febuary 1, 2016: I was working on merging Dioscorea opposita into Dioscorea polystachya and decided the article was much more about the actual cultural and culinary use of the tuber rather than the botany of the species. In accordance with Wikipedia:Naming conventions (flora)#Scientific versus vernacular names I renamed the article to Chinese yam, which is by far the most commonly used vernacular of the species. Furthermore, some botanists believe Dioscorea polystachya is only native to China and was introduced to Japan and Korea, leading some to believe the Korean yam and Japanese mountain yam names are misnomers. References to Korean yam and Japanese mountain yam naming were placed in the Names section.
I also created the disambiguation page for Dioscorea opposita, and removed all links pointing to that page. I added a disambiguation heading to Dioscorea oppositifolia in an attempt to catch any confused readers. The disambiguation page is entirely necessary because of the tremendous number of sources refering to the Chinese yam as Dioscorea opposita.
If the community builds consensus that this page would be best suited under the scientific name [Dioscorea polystachya], we can move it back at that time. --MCEllis (talk) 19:36, 1 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
I think you're right to do so. Sources are hopelessly confused about which botanical names go with which common names. Part of this is because the Chinese characters sometimes used in Chinese for this species (山薯) mean "mountain yam", while the Japanese equivalent (山芋- literally "mountain yam", "mountain potato" or even "mountain taro") are used in Japanese for Dioscorea japonica, and part of this is because many authors don't know that yama(no)imo and nagaimo are different species, assuming that they're just varieties with different root shapes (nagaimo literally means "long yam"). Complicating things further, the Flora of China refers to yet another species, Dioscorea fordii as 山薯, which also means "mountain yam".
The only caveat is that the Flora of China has 69 species, subspecies and varieties of Dioscorea, including some that are better known in other parts of the world, and often with their own confusions. Still, in the strange, jumbled-up world of names for potatoes, yams and sweet potatoes, this may be about as close as you can get to clarity. Chuck Entz (talk) 22:57, 26 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]
