Dioscorëa'ceæ

Dioscorëa'ceæ, an order of Monocotyledons, of which the genus Dioscorea (see YAM) is the type. There are about 150 species, temperate or tropical, all twining shrubs, with large rootstocks or tubers. Tamus (Testudinaria) elephantipes, a South African species, sometimes called Elephants' Foot, and Hottentots' Bread, has a large fleshy rhizome, with a rough cracked bark, which is used as food by the Hottentots in times of scarcity. Its congener, T. communis (Black Bryony), is the only British representative of the order.