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YAM , a See also:term usually applied to the tubers of various See also:species of Dioscorea. These are See also:plants with thick tubers (generall. a development of the See also:base of the See also:stem), from which protrude See also:long, slender, See also:annual climbing stems, bearing alternate or opposite, entire
or lobed leaves and unisexual See also:flowers in long clusters. The flowers are gene-rally small and individually inconspicuous, though collectively showy. Each consists of a greenish See also:- BELL
- BELL, ALEXANDER MELVILLE (1819—1905)
- BELL, ANDREW (1753—1832)
- BELL, GEORGE JOSEPH (1770-1843)
- BELL, HENRY (1767-1830)
- BELL, HENRY GLASSFORD (1803-1874)
- BELL, JACOB (1810-1859)
- BELL, JOHN (1691-178o)
- BELL, JOHN (1763-1820)
- BELL, JOHN (1797-1869)
- BELL, ROBERT (1800-1867)
- BELL, SIR CHARLES (1774—1842)
bell-shaped or See also:flat perianth of six pieces, enclosing six or fewer stamens in the male flowers, and surmounting a three-celled, three-winged ovary in the See also:female flowers. The ovary ripens into a membranous See also:capsule, bursting by three valves to liberate numerous flattish or globose seeds. The species are natives of the warmer regions of both hemispheres.
According to See also:Professor See also:- CHURCH
- CHURCH (according to most authorities derived from the Gr. Kvpcaxov [&wµa], " the Lord's [house]," and common to many Teutonic, Slavonic and other languages under various forms—Scottish kirk, Ger. Kirche, Swed. kirka, Dan. kirke, Russ. tserkov, Buig. cerk
- CHURCH, FREDERICK EDWIN (1826-1900)
- CHURCH, GEORGE EARL (1835–1910)
- CHURCH, RICHARD WILLIAM (1815–189o)
- CHURCH, SIR RICHARD (1784–1873)
Church's See also:analysis of the See also:Chinese yam, it contains more nitrogenous See also:matter, but less See also:starch, than potatoes: in roo parts there are of See also:water 82.6, starch 13.1, albumen 2.4, See also:fat o•2, woody fibre c•4 and See also:mineral matter 1.3 parts.
D. sativa and D. alata are the species most widely diffused in tropical and subtropical countries. D. aculeata, grown in See also:India, See also:Cochin See also:China and the See also:South See also:Sea Islands, is one of the best varieties. D. Batatas, the Chinese yam, is See also:hardy in See also:Great See also:Britain, but the great See also:depth to which its enormous tubers descend renders its cultivation unprofitable. It has deeply penetrating, thick, See also:club-shaped, fleshy roots, full of starch, which when cooked acquire a mild See also:taste like that of a See also:potato; they grow 3 ft. or upwards in length, and sometimes
Yam (Dioscorea Batatas). See also:Branch about 1 nat. See also:size. See also:Root much reduced.
902
weigh more than II, lb. The plant grows freely in deep sandy See also:soil, moderately enriched. The sets, consisting of pieces of the roots, may be planted in See also:March or See also:April, and require no other culture than the staking of the climbing stems. They should not be dug up before See also:November, the See also:chief increase in their size taking See also:place in autumn. They sometimes strike downwards 2 or 3 ft. into the soil, and must be carefully dug out, the upper slender See also:part being reserved for See also:propagation, and the See also:lower fleshy portion eaten after having been allowed a few days to dry. The tubers of D. alata sometimes weigh too lb. Most of the yams contain an acrid principle, which is dissipated in cooking.
The only See also:European Dioscorea is that known as D. pyrenaica, a native of the See also:Pyrenees, a remarkable instance of a species growing at a long distance from all its congeners. True yams must not be confounded with the sweet potato, Ipomoea Batatas, as they sometimes are in See also:London markets. The See also:common See also:black bryony (Tamus communis) of hedges in See also:England is closely allied to the yams of the tropics, and has a similar root-stock, which is reputed to be poisonous.
For the See also:history of the yam, and its cultivation and uses in India, see G. See also:Watt, See also:Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, iii. (189o).
End of Article: YAM
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