Dioscorea pentaphyllaL.

fiveleaf yam

WFO wfo-0000393431 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Dioscorea pentaphylla, photographed by Paulmathi Vinod
fig. a Paulmathi Vinod, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-11-12 / obs. 168500790
Dioscorea pentaphylla, photographed by Dinesh Valke
fig. b Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 160283760
Dioscorea pentaphylla, photographed by Dinesh Valke
fig. c Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 160125636
Dioscorea pentaphylla, photographed by Dinesh Valke
fig. d Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 160284692
Dioscorea pentaphylla, photographed by Dinesh Valke
fig. e Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 160114030
Dioscorea pentaphylla, photographed by Seema Merchant
fig. f Seema Merchant, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 125698315
Dioscorea pentaphylla, photographed by Ajit Ampalakkad
fig. g Ajit Ampalakkad, CC0 1.0 / obs. 47030216
Dioscorea pentaphylla, photographed by Dinesh Valke
fig. h Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 116365658

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 30 botanical countries

Regions where Dioscorea pentaphylla is native: China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Nansei-shoto, Taiwan, Tibet, Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, East Himalaya, India, Jawa, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maldives, Maluku, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Thailand, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Queensland, Caroline Is. China South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanTaiwanTibetAssamBangladeshBorneoCambodiaEast HimalayaIndiaJawaLaosLesser Sunda Is.MalayaMalukuMyanmarNepalNew GuineaPhilippinesSri LankaSulawesiSumateraThailandVietnamWest HimalayaQueensland Nansei-shotoMaldivesCaroline Is.
Native distribution of Dioscorea pentaphylla, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Assam ASS ASIA-TROPICAL
Bangladesh BAN
Borneo BOR
Cambodia CBD
East Himalaya EHM
India IND
Jawa JAW
Laos LAO
Lesser Sunda Is. LSI
Malaya MLY
Maldives MDV
Maluku MOL
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
New Guinea NWG
Philippines PHI
Sri Lanka SRL
Sulawesi SUL
Sumatera SUM
Thailand THA
Vietnam VIE
West Himalaya WHM
China South-Central CHC ASIA-TEMPERATE
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Nansei-shoto NNS
Taiwan TAI
Tibet CHT
Queensland QLD AUSTRALASIA
Caroline Is. CRL PACIFIC

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 30 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Botryosicyos pentaphyllus (L.) Hochst.
  • Dioscorea changjiangensis F.W.Xing & Z.X.Li
  • Dioscorea codonopsidifolia Kamik.
  • Dioscorea digitata Mill.
  • Dioscorea globifera R.Knuth
  • Dioscorea jacquemontii Hook.f.
  • Dioscorea kleiniana Kunth
  • Dioscorea pentaphylla var. cardonii Prain & Burkill
  • Dioscorea pentaphylla var. communis Prain & Burkill
  • Dioscorea pentaphylla var. hortorum Prain & Burkill
  • Dioscorea pentaphylla var. jacquemontii (Hook.f.) Prain & Burkill
  • Dioscorea pentaphylla var. javanica Burkill
  • Dioscorea pentaphylla var. kussok Prain & Burkill
  • Dioscorea pentaphylla var. linnaei Prain & Burkill
  • Dioscorea pentaphylla var. malaica Prain & Burkill
  • Dioscorea pentaphylla var. mollis Hassk.
  • Dioscorea pentaphylla var. palmata Burkill
  • Dioscorea pentaphylla var. papuana Burkill
  • Dioscorea pentaphylla var. rheedei Prain & Burkill
  • Dioscorea pentaphylla var. sacerdotalis Burkill
  • Dioscorea pentaphylla var. simplicifolia Prain & Burkill
  • Dioscorea pentaphylla var. suli Prain & Burkill
  • Dioscorea pentaphylla var. thwaitesii Prain & Burkill
  • Dioscorea pentaphylla var. unifoliata R.Knuth

and 6 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.