Dioscorea villosa aka Wild Yam

Dioscorea villosa, also known as wild yam, is a twining tuberous vine that is native to the eastern part of North America. Its range stretches from Texas and Florida all the way up to Minnesota, Ontario, and Massachusetts. This species is quite variable in shape and can range from a small vine with winged stems and hairy leaves to large vines with unwinged stems, smooth leaves, and widely spread sprays of flowers. Wild yam is a perennial vine found in moist forests and woodlands and individual plants are either male or female. Male flowers appear in clusters of 1 to 3 along the branches, while female flowers appear on racemes of 5-15 flowers that develop from the leaf axils. The female flowers are replaced by capsules that contain 1-2 seeds. Dioscorea villosa is also commonly known as colic root, rheumatism root, devil's bones, and fourleaf yam, and always has rhizomes spreading underground that can be branched or not.