Family Name: Dioscoreaceae
Botanical Name(s): Dioscorea Villosa
Popular Name(s): Dioscorea, Colic Root, Rheumatism Root, Wilde
Yamwurzel.
Parts Used: Dried Rhizome
Habitat: Southern United States and Canada.
Description: It is a perennial, twining plant, with long,
knotty, matted, contorted, ligneous rootstocks. The root is long,
branched, crooked, and woody, the taste being insipid, afterwards acrid,
and having no odor. It is usually sold in pieces of various lengths,
which are difficult to pulverize, as the root flattens out when this is
attempted.
Uses: It is also useful in painful cholera morbus with cramps,
neuralgic affections, spasmodic hiccough and spasmodic asthma.
