Elephant’s foot, Hottentot bread

Dioscorea elephantipes is one of the most beautiful, weird and wonderful, caudiciform plants. It has a deeply fissured surface stem which is  partially buried, resembling an elephant’s foot, hence its common name. It grows very slowly.  It is rich in starch, hence the name Hottentot bread, and is covered on the outside with thick, hard, corky plates.

In summer the plant seems to have no leaves, as it keeps its energy reducing them. It develops slender, leafy, climbing shoots with dark-spotted, greenish-yellow flowers in winter. The leaf form resembles the shape of a heart.