Chinese Wild Yam, Cinnamon Vine

I am always looking for vines to grow in the spring-flowering bushes because, frankly, many of those bushes don't look like much the rest...Read More of the year. I bought this plant as Dioscorea batatas, an older name, also because I thought having a winter-hardy sweet potato would be cool. My only mistake was in that it needs VERY large bushes or even small trees in which to grow. Whomever put "8-10 feet" must live in the upper Yukon or something. These plants routinely grow 20+ feet each year, from the ground, here in southeast Michigan. I can see were it would be invasive out in the wild, but here in my garden it is relatively easy to control. Just snap off the vines at ground level. There'll be another, and perhaps another, but eventually the tuber gives up and dies. I seldom do that because I really like this plant. The leaves are always fresh and perky, defining "lush growth." The flowers are very interesting, though nothing that I would refer to as attractive. I've never caught a scent off them, will have to remember to intentionally smell them next time I'm out. It grows rampantly through the bushes and trees without 'strangling' or otherwise harming anything. It also does very well on an arbor, as long as you remember to get a realy BIG arbor.

Plants are slow to start in the first year, with no flowers but a few bulbils. In the second year (I left them in the ground over winter...Read More z6) the growth is much stronger, 10' by mid May with thick red-purple vines and leaves. Quite striking in the spring, the vines look similar to long, thin, purple asparagus spears without leaves for several weeks, they were nearly 8' tall before the first red-purple leaves unfurled.

I have them surrounded by concrete walkways due to reports of the plants being very invasive, but so far I've not had any volunteers sprouting.

The bulbils are quite tasty, I honey roast them like peanuts and the family really enjoys eating them.

Seen these around forever, pretty invasive and the flowers smell just like big red chewing gum, very noticeable just passing by them.

Planted on the north side of the house close to the foundation (full shade). It dies back every year at frost and returns in the same spo...Read Moret. By the end of June it fills out a trellis nicely and provides a nice back drop for the rest of the garden. I grew this at my last house on the south side (partial sun due to wooded lot) and it behaved there as well. Living in an area where the growing time is so short is probably what makes this plant enjoyable for me instead of a nuisance.

Chinese Wild Yam, Cinnamon Vine Dioscorea oppositifolia is naturalized in Texas and other States and is considered an invasive plant in Texas.

This plant produces plenty of tubers to share. If some escape, the plantlets are easy to pull up and repot. Insignificant blooms are su...Read Morepposed to smell like cinnamon. Great in a window box or planter.

Hortus Third indicates it is root-hardy to USDA Zone 5, and can persist for years.

This plant is terribly invasive. Each litle "potato" grows. It covers and smothers everything. It is impossible to get rid of. It is a...Read More nightmare when it gets loose! I have it places I cannot figure out how I got it there. If you plant it watch it and don't put the potatoes where you don't want them!(I have had it for 30+ years and it has been here much longer than that.)

Plant produces small bulbs at the leaf axils in the fall and these are what are planted, they all grow. The first year the flowers did n...Read Moreot form and growth was slow, after that, much faster growth and flowers.

I think this is a very attractive plant. The flowers have a strong cinnamon scent. The tubers will get huge, as they grow each year. The bulbs on the top part taste good, and are the size of peanuts, and the tuber is good to eat also, but it must be cooked.The root can be prepared for cooking by gently scraping the skin and bumps off with the edge of a sharp knife

The root and bulbs for planting should not freeze; plant after all danger of frost is past, and should be mulched. This plant can - and most likely will - be invasive.
2/8/04 I just dug up some of the root tubers,they are 2 years old and weigh approximately 1 lb,when I planted them last fall, as 1 year old tubers they averaged 3 oz. each.