Warrany | Yam | Dioscorea hastifolia

Warrany is a perennial, tuberous scrambling or climbing shrub that gets to three metres in length and height. It flowers from April to July and grows on grey sands, granitic and basaltic soils and laterite.

Noongar uses

• Warrany tubers were traditionally eaten like potatoes by Noongar people.
• The tubers penetrate up to half a metre down before enlarging into a thick cylindrical structure.
• The stem tuber is often the only organ of these plants to survive between growing seasons.

Cultivation

This scrambling or climbing shrub has stems up to two metres long. The yellow flowers are produced in a spike between May and July. They are easy to grow, and will especially prosper outside, or in your regular veggie growing space, in long pots to encourage tuber growth.

Reference

Excerpt from Wheatbelt NRM's 2017 Noongar Bush Tucker Calendar

Bush Tucker Plants of the South West by B. Daw, T. Walley and G. Keighery 1997.