Bellaraai / Indian Yam
Dioscorea oppositifolia
- Habit
- Climber
- Found in India
- Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya & more
- Flowering
- July-March
How to identify Bellaraai
Identify Bellaraai by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a climber habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Opposite leaf arrangement, unusual for the genus.
- Confirm leaf shape: Cordate (heart-shaped).
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: July-March.
- In India, compare location records such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Maharashtra and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Dioscoreaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Bellaraai.
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.
Dioscoreaceae
Yam Family
Bellaraai belongs to the Dioscoreaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Dioscoreaceae familySnap it. Know it.
Point your camera at Bellaraai or any plant and SASYA identifies it instantly — on-device, offline, and private.
Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
All plant problem & care guides