Commonly referred to as yams—not to be confused with the dicots, sweet potato— nor the so-called 'yam bean'— (Pachyrizus or jicama), Dioscorea, with its 600+ species, goes by many names. Those that are cultivated for food consumption are collectively referred to as 'sain' or ware yams. ISTRC (now Bioversity International) does provide a comprehensive (64-page) listing of decriptors to describe and identify yams, however the sheer number of varieties and vast distribution of yams makes taxonomic identification via physical characteristics time-consuming and invariably inaccurate. In contrast, results of DNA 'barcoding' have been promising in discriminating amongst species (Girma, 2015), though not all species have yet to be differentiated per this mode.
| Latin Name | Common Names |
|---|---|
| Dioscorea aculeata | Guinea yam, Kaawi, Afou, Ufi tau |
| Dioscorea alata | Barbadoes Yam, Greater yam, geflugelter Yam, tabena, Indian yam, Malay yam, Winged-stalked yam, 10 months yam, daisho (Japan), uvi (Fiji), ufi tao (Samoa), ufi (Tonga), soft yam (Vanuata) |
| Dioscorea atropurpurea | dark purple yam, Malacca |
| Dioscorea batatas | Indian potato, Chinese yam |
| Dioscorea bulbifera | Climbing air/aerial potato, potato yam, otaheite potato, niga kashyu (Japan), peivou (Vanuata), hoi (Tonga), soi (Samoa) |
| Dioscorea cayensis | Guinea yam, yellow yam, 12 month yam |
| Dioscorea dumetorum | cluster yam, bitter yam, igname sauvage, inhame bravo, name de tres hojas |
| Dioscorea esculenta | Guinea yam, sweetyam, Goa yam, inhame de Sao Tome, Chinese yam, yellow yam, 12 month yam, lesser yam, Asiatic yam, togeimo (Japan), togedokoro (Japa), kawai (Fiji), sarsau (Vanuata), pana (Solomon Islands), ufi lei (Tonga, Samoa) |
| Dioscorea fargesii | Upeh Chinese yam |
| Dioscorea floribunda | medicial yam |
| Dioscorea globosa | Globe yam |
| Dioscorea hispida | Asiatic bitter yam, intoxicating yam, karukandu, namy |
| Dioscorea japonica | Japanese yam, yamanoimo, shan-yu-tsai |
| Dioscorea macrostachya | composite yam, camotillo, cabezo de negro, barbasco de camote |
| Dioscorea minutiflora | bush yam |
| Dioscorea nummularia | kerung; palai, maoi (Samoa); Niu Kini (New Guinea); ulu; strong yam, lau palai; toa tu tang (Hai-nan Island, China); tali cupang (Malaysia); sounda (Java); marau (Hermit Islands); waro (Amboina); ubing basol; banan; detachel; kiloma, boku, sinngo (New Guinea); karausu, puutiko, uporor, Taumako (Solomon Islands); pango, puria, loopitiko (Vanuatu); rauva, tivoli, tikau, san shue (Fiji) |
| Dioscorea opposita | Chinese yam, Chinese potato, sain-in |
| Dioscorea pentaphylla | Five-fingered yam, pirita, lena, hipo (Vanuata), ufi vavae (Samoa) |
| Dioscorea rotundata | negro yam, white yam, 8 months yam, African yam, Martinique yam (Vanuatu), sand yam, buck yam, grabosa, ubi pasir, pona yam |
| Dioscorea sativa | common yam |
| Dioscorea trifida | Cush-cush yam, Yampi, African yam |
| Dioscorea upesi | Chinese yam |
| Dioscorea villosa | wild yam |