✿Dioscoreaceae · Dioscorea
Bellaraai / Indian Yam
Dioscorea oppositifolia
Climberoutdoor
- Habit
- Climber
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya & more
- Flowering
- July-March
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Dioscorea oppositifolia
- Genus
- Dioscorea
- Family
- Dioscoreaceae
- Habit
- Climber
- Habitat
- Moist deciduous and deciduous forests
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Distribution
- India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Eastern Himalayas
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana
- Flowering & fruiting
- July-March
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- Cordate (heart-shaped)recorded
Characters marked “recorded” are for Bellaraai itself; the rest are typical of the Dioscoreaceae family.
Local Names
- Tamil
- காய்மைகாரி kaymai-kari, மலையன்கிழங்கு malaiyankilanku, வெற்றிலைவள்ளி verrilai-valli
- Telugu
- అడవి దుంప తీగ adavi dumpa thige, అడవి యాట తీగ adavi yataga tige, ఆరె తీగలు aretegalu
- Kannada
- ಬೆಳ್ಳರಾಯ್ Bellaraai, ಹಕ್ಕಿ ಗೆಣಸು Hakki genasu, ಕಾಡು ಗೆಣಸು Kaadu genasu
- Malayalam
- കാച്ചിൽ kaachil, കാഞ്ഞിരക്കിഴങ്ങ് kanjirakizhangu, കവള kavala
- Marathi
- मेदवण medhvan, पासपोळी paspoli
About Bellaraai
Indian Yam (Dioscorea oppositifolia) is a climber in the Dioscoreaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya and 5 other states. It grows in moist deciduous and deciduous forests. Flowering and fruiting run from July to March.

Botanical family
Dioscoreaceae
Yam Family
Bellaraai belongs to the Dioscoreaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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