Herbs Guide

Wild Yam

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.