According to Baidu's Encyclopedia: Dioscorea (scientific name: Dioscorea?oppositifolia?L.) is a twining herbaceous vine of the genus Dioscorea in the family Dioscoreaceae. The tubers are long and cylindrical, growing vertically. Stem usually purplish-red, right-handed, glabrous. Leaves are simple, alternate in the lower part of the stem, opposite above the middle. Male inflorescence a spike, 2-8 cm long, suberect, 2-8 inserted in leaf axils. Capsule not reflexed; seeds inserted at middle of each locule. Flowering June-September, fruiting July-November. The tubers are commonly used in the traditional Chinese medicine "Huai yam", which is rich in starch and can be used as a vegetable food; they can be used as medicine to replenish the deficiency of the spleen and stomach, and to treat weak qi, indigestion, spermatorrhea, dyspepsia, enuresis, and anonymous swollen toxins.