Japanese name: カエデドコロ（楓野老） Scientific name:Dioscorea quinquelobata
[Overview]
A climbing perennial found at forest edges and in forests in lowlands.
The underground stem creeps horizontally just below the surface of the ground.
The vine branches freely in the upper part.
Leaves are alternate, 6–12 cm long, and divided into 3 lobes or palmately into 5–9 lobes.
The petiole is 10 cm long and has a pair of small projections at the base.
The leaves turn blackish brown when dried.
It is dioecious.
Male inflorescences emerge sideways and branch.
Female inflorescences hang down.
Both male and female flowers are orange-yellow, with 6 tepals that open flat.
Male flowers have short stalks, and all 6 stamens are complete and fertile.
Female flowers are stalkless.
The fruit is an obovate-round capsule 12–15 mm long and 15–18 mm wide, with 3 wings.
The seeds are elliptic, about 3 mm long, with a wing around them.
[Notes]
The Japanese name comes from the leaf shape resembling that of a maple.
