About Dioscorea transversa R.Br.
Dioscorea transversa, commonly known as the pencil yam, is a vine species native to eastern and northern Australia. Its leaves are heart-shaped, shiny, and marked with 5 to 7 prominent veins. The seed pods of this plant are rounded; they start out green or pink, and dry to a straw brown papery texture. The edible tubers produced by Dioscorea transversa are typically long and slender. Two distinct forms of the species exist. The first is an eastern form that grows in rainforests and wet sclerophyll forests, and does not produce bulbils. The second is a northern form that grows in open forests, produces small bulbils, and forms large tubers underground. The tubers of this plant were a traditional staple food for Australian Aboriginal people. They are eaten after cooking, most often in ground ovens. The 1889 publication *The Useful Native Plants of Australia* records that additional common names for this species include "long yam". It also notes that Indigenous Australians from Central Queensland call this species "kowar", and states that the small young tubers are eaten by Aboriginal people without any preparation.
