Dioscoreales

Dioscoreales, the yam order of flowering plants, belonging to the monocotyledons (characterized by a single seed leaf) and containing three families, about 22 genera, and more than 1,000 species. Under the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) botanical classification system, the order contained five families: Dioscoreaceae, Burmanniaceae, Taccaceae, Thismiaceae, and Tricopodaceae. Under the revised APG II system, Taccaceae and Thismiaceae are included in Dioscoreaceae, Tricopodaceae is included in Burmanniaceae, and Nartheciaceae is added to the order. For more information on the APG II system, see angiosperm.

Species in this order are twiners or herbs of the forest floor and are sometimes achlorophyllous and saprophytic. The leaves often have a nonsheathing base, a distinctive petiole, and reticulate-veined lamina, or they are small and scalelike with sheathing bases. The flowers are actinomorphic, bisexual or unisexual (dioecious), and with a conspicuous or reduced perianth. The fruits are often dry capsules or berries and in some taxa contain numerous tiny seeds. Many members of Dioscoreales are found in tropical and subtropical habitats.

Dioscoreaceae, or the yam family, contains eight or nine genera and some 750 species, many of which produce tuberous roots rich in starch; these tubers are staple foods in many tropical nations. The yampee, or cush-cush (Dioscorea trifida), originated in South America and the West Indies. D. alata, the white yam of India and the Malay Peninsula, is widely cultivated for its enlarged roots. Elephant’s-foot (D. [or Testudinaria] elephantipes), grown in Africa, is used as a famine food. Roots of all these plants contain poisonous alkaloids that are destroyed by boiling. In addition, several steroid compounds were originally obtained from Mexican species of Dioscorea to manufacture contraceptives and medicines. Members of the genus Tacca, or bat flower, are understory herbs found in tropical wet forests, primarily in Southeast Asia, and are sometimes grown as ornamentals. Their umbel-like inflorescences have conspicuous, often dark maroon or black, filiform bracts subtending the flowers. Tacca was placed in its own family, Taccaceae, under APG but is included in Dioscoreaceae under APG II. Similarly, the small genus Trichopus, formerly in its own family Tricopodaceae, is now included in Dioscoreaceae.

Burmanniaceae includes 95 species in nine genera and has traditionally been associated with the orchids because of their similar fruits, which contain numerous microscopic seeds. Its placement in Dioscoreales is based primarily on molecular evidence. These small inconspicuous plants lack chlorophyll and are easily overlooked in the understory of the wet tropical forests where they occur.

Nartheciaceae, with four or five genera and 41 species, is included in Dioscoreales based on molecular evidence and the common possession of steroidal saponins. The main genus in the family, Narthecium, was formerly included in the family Liliaceae.