Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Streptophyta

Class: Equiseptosida

subclas: Magnoliidae

Order: Dioscoreales

Family: Dioscoreaceae

Genus: Dioscorea

Species: pentaphylla 

Description: Twines counterclockwise around other plants and objects, and can grow up to 10meters long. The stem is usually covered in prickles. .Leaves are.Alternate, compound leaves with 3–5 leaflets each. The leaflets are ovate to lanceolate, and can be up to 10 centimeters long. .Male flowers are sessile or subsessile, and are borne on slender spikes. Female flowers have a solitary spike, and the perianth lobes are biseriate. Fruit are A dark, ellipsoid, hairy, thinly leathery capsule that is 2–2.5 centimeters long. Roots areFibrous with irregular tubers that are usually long and ovoid. The transverse section of a fresh tuber is white. .Bulbils areHorseshoe-shaped bulbils about a centimeter long that can sprout into new plants 

Uses: A food crop that’s widely cultivated

Traditionally used to treat bacterial and fungal infections