Family |
Dioscoreaceae
Dioscorea communis
(L.) Caddick & Wilkin
Dioscorea communis (L.) Caddick & Wilkin
(First published in Taxon 51(1): 112 (2002); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, Pl. XCVII nº 2; 1966, as Tamus communis L.)
• Life-form & habit : Perennial tuberous geophyte; stems annual, twining to the right, cylindrical, striate, often somewhat reddish, reaching up to 4 m.
• Leaves : Alternate, petiolate, thin, cordate, entire, acuminate at apex, sometimes weakly subtrilobed; venation palmate-reticulate; blade up to 8 cm long.
• Inflorescence & flowers : Plants dioecious; flowers yellowish-green, arranged in axillary racemes. Male racemes loose, sometimes slightly branched, up to twice as long as the neighbouring leaf; female flowers solitary or paired on a short axis, forming a small raceme much shorter than the leaf.
• Fruit : Berry globose, red at maturity; ovary 4–5 mm.
• Phenology : Flowers from March to May.
• Habitat & elevation : Hedges, thickets, woodland margins and shaded rocky places, mostly in coastal and lower montane zones.
• Lebanese distribution : Recorded from Tyr, Saïda, Sa‘adiyat, Damour, Beyrouth, Nahr-el-Kelb, Nahr Ibrahim, Tripoli, Skanderouné to Jamaliyé, Mkallès, ‘Abey, Jamhour to Bsouss, Hammana and Qabbélias.
• Native range : Albania, Algeria, Austria, Azores, Baleares, Belgium, Bulgaria, Corse, East Aegean Is., France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Morocco, North Caucasus, NW. Balkan Pen., Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Switzerland, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe.
• Diagnostic remarks : Treated by Mouterde as Tamus communis; distinguished from Tamus orientalis by its much longer twining stems, larger cordate leaves, loose non-flexuous racemes and globose red berries.