Talk:Dioscorea opposita

Chinese medicine section

This section is fiction written in as if in-universe. It refers to the vegetable's ability to channel qi and other such things with no scientific consensus. It has been tagged as needing reworking since 2012, and no work has been done. I feel that as the section is pseudoscientific mumbo-jumbo, and offers no real notable insight into the properties or usage of the plant, the entire traditional chinese medicine section can be removed, and instead it can be mentioned in the alternate medicines section that it is also used in chinese traditional medicine. 118.211.96.63 (talk) 23:24, 12 April 2015 (UTC)

Nomenclature is all mixed up

According to the Missouri Botanical Garden's TROPICOS database and the USDA ARS GRIN Taxonomy database, the plant known as 'Dioscorea batatas ' is more correctly Dioscorea polystachya Turcz. This is corroborated by the Flora of China database and the Flora of North America database. The synonymy gets confusing, though, when you start to delve into Dioscorea opposita and Dioscorea oppositifolia. The best I can figure out is that they both seem to be legitimate names, but that they've been misapplied by a variety of sources to Dioscorea polystachya, and perhaps to other species. The Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database lumps Dioscorea japonica in with all of the above as synonyms of Dioscorea batatas Decne., but I'm skeptical.

As for the Japanese names yamaimo and nagaimo, I always understood them to be separate species: yamaimo is Dioscorea japonica and nagaimo is Dioscorea polystachya. From what I can figure out of the Japanese Wikipedia articles, they seem to follow this distinction (though they seem to use Dioscorea batatas instead of Dioscorea polystachya for nagaimo) Chuck Entz (talk) 18:33, 12 November 2011 (UTC)

D. oppositifolia is certainly not a synonym for D. opposita; it's an Indian species, and was published prior to D. opposita (so would have priority even if they were considered the same species). D. oppositifolia enters the mix because there was confusion among American botanists as to whether it, or D. batatas was naturalized in the US. US botanists have since decided that the correct (due to earlier publication, and assuming that both names refer to the same entity) name for D. batatas is D. polystachya. D. opposita is earlier still; if all 3 names (batatas, polystachya and opposita) refer to the same species, opposita is the correct name. It's not clear to me at this point that opposita and polystachya/batatas are the same. They may or may not be.

In short, there is a chain of possibly synonymous names, starting with a misidentification (oppositifolia) which is mentioned as a synonym in this article. One of the links in this chain (polystachya) is missing. I am deleting both listed synonyms (batatas and oppositifolia). Batatas and opposita may indeed by synonyms, but I have yet to find any support for that (having checked TROPICOS and other references Chuck looked at).Plantdrew (talk) 03:49, 20 January 2012 (UTC)

I found a solid reference linking botanical and Japanese names: Jisaburo Ohwi's Flora of Japan (English translation, 1963), p.314. The following link will take you directly to a scan of that page at Internet Archive: [1] Chuck Entz (talk) 07:23, 20 January 2012 (UTC)

And yet more evidence: In the Flora of China itself (PDF for Dioscorea chapter available here [2]), under Dioscorea polystachya Turczaninow, is an explanation:

The name Dioscorea opposita Thunberg (Fl. Jap. 151. 1784) has been widely used in the sense of D. polystachya, which is an earlier name for D. batatas. It was based on a misidentification of Japanese material as the strictly Indian species D. oppositifolia Linnaeus, which was cited as a synonym in the protologue, thus rendering D. opposita nomenclaturally superfluous and an illegitimate name.

I managed to track down a digital copy of what I believe is the correct edition at Gallica (here: [3]), so you can judge the accuracy of the description. Chuck Entz (talk) 03:32, 21 January 2012 (UTC)

I note that the accepted name is Dioscorea bulbifera at http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/apex/f?p=185:46:17016869525735::NO::module,mf_use,source,akzanz,rehm,akzname,taxid:mf,,botnam,0,,Dioscorea%20bulbifera,18612 together with all Synonyms Yosri (talk) 18:17, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

That has "Dioscorea oppositifolia Campbell non L." as a synonym of D. bulbifera. "Campbell non L." means it is not the species established by Linnaeus (L.), but a misidentification or a homonym attributed to Campbell. It's not the same thing as the D. oppositifolia being discussed above. And that source doesn't say anything about D. opposita (which is the title of this article). Plantdrew (talk) 03:42, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Tororo Sobd/Udon

Tororo udon/soba is DEFINITELY eaten hot and cold. I have had the hot variety many times. Its usually regular kake soba/udon plus tororo I edited —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.134.163.94 (talk) 12:19, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Nutrients

I would like to know more about the nutrients that this vegetable provides. I understand it is starchy, but how much starch? how many calories, etc?Saritamackita 00:22, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Soil conditions, Climate

It would also be nice to know the soil conditions and the climate that this vegetable is grown well in.Saritamackita 00:22, 27 January 2007 (UTC) It provides me much more energy on my manhood (Gelbert Coloma} march 14 2007 --—Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.124.56.63 (talk • contribs)

Taxobox

This article needs a taxobox. Badagnani 03:07, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Added. Laogooli 20:10, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Jinenjo and tororo

Can someone discuss jinenjo further? Badagnani 11:36, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

自然薯 (ヤマノイモ) – Japanese Wiki article Hrdinský (talk) 07:26, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Image

I've grown some of this. I'll upload images as soon as it starts to grow leaves. Laogooli 20:10, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Use as lubricant

I find it hard to believe it nagaimo was used as a personal lubricant, due to oxalate crystals which would irritate the skin. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.85.250.150 (talk • contribs)

I have to agree, this section sounds fake to me. Slurping one's food isn't considered particularly bad in Japanese culture. This information (if it's true) should belong in the personal lubricant article. It seems completely out of place here. 72.22.3.94 01:53, 14 January 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.22.3.94 (talk)

I agree with both the above--all Japanese people know that tororo can be an irritant--if something makes the area around your lips itch unpleasantly, you are (I think) not likely to use it as a personal lubricant. As to the slurping sound, note the age of the citation there.Osakaben3000 (talk) 11:51, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

I actually think this is an outright fabrication, but to give the benefit of the doubt, at least it's a misunderstanding. Yamaimo is apparently held to be an aphrodisiac (when eaten). A brief internet search (In Japanese at least) shows that people who have used yamaimo this way (as lubricant) have had exceedingly bad experiences. --75.85.174.229 (talk) 08:56, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

You all make reasonable arguments here. However, Torigoe Bunzô was a leading expert on the popular culture of the Edo period, and what you have not done here is to provide a citation countering Torigoe's assertion. I can appreciate that it might sound dubious, but, if we labeled anything and everything dubious just because it doesn't sound quite right, then everything on Wikipedia would be labeled dubious by someone. If you have a citation specifically saying otherwise, then by all means, go ahead and cite it. In the meantime, I've restored my contributions from Torigoe's book. Cheers. LordAmeth (talk) 17:40, 25 February 2013 (UTC)

I see this section was removed again. Torigoe Bunzo was one of the top scholars on the Edo period, a very reliable source. If you have any counter citation, explicitly refuting this myth, I would be more than happy to leave this be. But, in the meantime, your own personal doubts are not a valid source for removing interesting and possibly valid information from the encyclopedia. LordAmeth (talk) 23:29, 13 October 2014 (UTC)

It would help if we had access to the source. So far we only have your assertion that it says what you say it does, with the interpretation that you've taken from it. Even reproducing a quote here would help with the second part, at least. Chuck Entz (talk) 03:22, 19 October 2014 (UTC)

I removed the dubious information. As a Japanese editor, it sounds nonsense. Oda Mari (talk) 10:34, 19 October 2014 (UTC)

soba?

the pictured labled "tororo udon" is in fact soba (i.e. made of buckwheat, not wheat).Naerhu 05:08, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

No, the label says blackbean udon, which explains the color--the Japanese is correct, probably accurate.Osakaben3000 (talk) 11:14, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

Japanese Name Translation

I wanted to add the Japanese name translations. "Yama" means mountain and "imo" potato. Does anyone know what the "naga" in nagaimo means? Also what is the difference in the shapes of the roots to earn the different names?24.83.178.11 05:08, 14 March 2007 (UTC)BeeCier

"naga" is long, but might I suggest moving the translations out of the opening paragraphs? As it is now I find the opening paragraphs a highly inaccessible and trivial collection of Japanese words for plants related to this one. An opening should ideally give the reader a quick over-view of what the article is going to talk about, not jump right into a wall of details and (ultimately not very important) factoids. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.23.60.64 (talk) 06:00, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

WikiProject Food and drink Tagging

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Wrong information is deleted..

Korean name of Dioscorea opposita is "ma". Hemp is also called "ma麻", which is cino-Korean. Even though the two have same pronounication, they are different things... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.189.226.124 (talk) 21:18, 6 March 2012 (UTC)