Editing Dioscorea (section)

{{short description|Genus of yams}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image             = Dioscorea balcanica BotGardBln310505.jpg
| image_caption     = ''Dioscorea balcanica''
| taxon             = Dioscorea
| authority         = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Sections
| subdivision       = 
* Botryosicyos
* Combilium
* Enantiophyllum
* Lasiophyton
* Macroura
** Macrourae
* Macrogynodium
* Opsophyton
** Euopsophyton
* Shannicorea
* Stenophora
(Not all are supported by molecular analyses.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Couto |first1=Ricardo S |last2=Martins |first2=Aline C |last3=Bolson |first3=Mônica |last4=Lopes |first4=Rosana C |last5=Smidt |first5=Eric C |last6=Braga |first6=João Marcelo A |title=Time calibrated tree of Dioscorea (Dioscoreaceae) indicates four origins of yams in the Neotropics since the Eocene |journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society |date=28 September 2018 |volume=188 |issue=2 |pages=144–160 |doi=10.1093/botlinnean/boy052 |doi-access=free}}</ref> See tropicos query cited for more.<ref>{{cite web |title= Name - Dioscorea L. (Subgeneric subordinate taxa) |url=http://legacy.tropicos.org/NamePage.aspx?nameid=40031872&tab=subordinatetaxa |website=legacy.tropicos.org}}</ref>)
| synonyms_ref     = <ref name=amber/>
| synonyms          = 
* ''Tamus'' <small>L.</small>
* ''Ricophora'' <small>Mill.</small>
* ''Tamnus'' <small>Mill.</small>
* ''Oncus'' <small>Lour.</small>
* ''Ubium'' <small>J.F.Gmel.</small>
* ''Oncorhiza'' <small>Pers.</small>
* ''Testudinaria'' <small>Salisb. ex Burch.</small>
* ''Rhizemys'' <small>Raf.</small>
* ''Botryosicyos'' <small>Hochst.</small>
* ''Helmia'' <small>Kunth</small>
* ''Sismondaea'' <small>Delponte</small>
* ''Epipetrum'' <small>Phil.</small>
* ''Borderea'' <small>Miégev.</small>
* ''Elephantodon'' <small>Salisb.</small>
* ''Hamatris'' <small>Salisb.</small>
* ''Merione'' <small>Salisb.</small>
* ''Polynome'' <small>Salisb.</small>
* ''Strophis'' <small>Salisb.</small>
* ''Higinbothamia'' <small>Uline</small>
* ''Nanarepenta'' <small>Matuda</small>
* ''Hyperocarpa'' <small>(Uline) G.M.Barroso, E.F.Guim. & Sucre</small>
}}

'''''Dioscorea''''' is a genus of over 600 species of [[flowering plant]]s in the family [[Dioscoreaceae]], native throughout the [[tropical]] and warm [[temperate]] regions of the world. The vast majority of the species are tropical, with only a few species extending into temperate climates.<ref name="amber">{{Cite web|url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=239724|title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|website=apps.kew.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-01-23}}</ref><ref>Govaerts, R., Wilkin, P. & Saunders, R.M.K. (2007). World Checklist of Dioscoreales. Yams and their allies: 1-65. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.</ref><ref>Wilkin, P. & Thapyai, C. (2009). Flora of Thailand 10(1): 1-140. The Forest Herbarium, National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa/index1.php?scientific-name=dioscorea+communis|title=Dioscorea communis [Tamaro]|website=luirig.altervista.org|language=it|access-date=2017-01-23}}</ref> It was named by the monk [[Charles Plumier]] after the ancient [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] physician and botanist [[Dioscorides]].