Nagaimo (Chinese yam) - Nagaimo (English spelling) Chinese yam

Japanese: ナガイモ(長芋∥薯蕷) - ナガイモ（英語表記）Chinese yam

A perennial plant of the Dioscoreaceae family cultivated for its edible potatoes. It is also called yamaimo or yamanoimo, but is considered to be a different species from yamanoimo D. japonica Thunb., also called jinenjo, which grows wild in the mountains and fields south of Honshu. It is native to China and is thought to have been introduced to Japan via the Korean Peninsula in the Middle Ages. The stem is vine-like, 3-5m long, twines around a support, and branches frequently. The leaf blade is triangular with a heart-shaped base, and the petiole is 5-7cm long and opposite. Reddish purple spots are visible from the tip of the petiole to the base of the leaf blade.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

いもを食用とするために栽培されるヤマノイモ科の多年草。ヤマイモ，ヤマノイモとも呼ばれるが，本州以南の山野に自生し，ジネンジョとも呼ばれるヤマノイモD.japonica Thunb.とは別種とされる。中国原産で，日本には中世に朝鮮半島を経て渡来したと考えられている。茎はつる状で長さ3～5m，支柱に巻きついて伸び，よく枝分れをする。葉身は基部が心臓形となる三角形，葉柄は長さ5～7cmで対生する。葉柄の先から葉身の付け根が赤紫色の斑となる。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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