page_title: Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia
section_title: Dioscorea bulbifera (air yam)
hierarchical_section_title: Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia / Plants / Dioscorea (yams) / Dioscorea bulbifera (air yam)
caption_attribution_description: English: Indigenous Flowers of the Hawaiian Islands by Mrs. Frances Sinclair, Plate 29 (Dioscorea bulbifera)
context_page_description: One of the major human migration events was the maritime settlement of the islands of the Indo-Pacific by the Austronesian peoples, believed to have started from at least 5,500 to 4,000 BP. These migrations were accompanied by a set of domesticated, semi-domesticated, and commensal plants and animals transported via outrigger ships and catamarans that enabled early Austronesians to thrive in the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia, Near Oceania, and Remote Oceania, Madagascar, and the Comoros Islands.
  They include crops and animals believed to have originated from the Hemudu and Majiabang cultures in the hypothetical pre-Austronesian homelands in mainland China, as well as other plants and animals believed to have been first domesticated from within Taiwan, Island Southeast Asia, and New Guinea. Some of these plants are sometimes also known as "canoe plants", especially in the context of the Polynesian migrations. Domesticated animals and plants introduced during historic times are not included.
context_section_description: The air yam (Dioscorea bulbifera), also known as the bitter yam, is one of the lesser cultivated species of yam. It is usually only eaten as famine food in Island Southeast Asia, Melanesia, and Polynesia, because of the toxicity of some wild or feral plants when not cooked correctly. However it is one of only three yams that were carried by Austronesians into Remote Oceania, the others being D. alata and D. nummularia. The part of the plant harvested are the aerial tubers, as it does not usually produce large underground tubers.
  It can be reconstructed to Proto-Oceanic as *pwatika or *pʷatik, with cognates including Lou puet; Lamusong patik; Boanaki posika; and Kwara'ae fasia. However, in Lamusong its meaning has shifted to the lesser yam, while in Boanaki, the meaning has shifted to a more generalized term for yams. It can also be reconstructed to the more generalized Proto-Oceanic *balai, meaning "wild yam", which became Proto-Micronesian *palai, with cognates including Rotuman parai; Tongan, Niue, and Samoan palai; and Rennellese pagai.
caption: Illustration of D. bulbifera in Indigenous Flowers of the Hawaiian Islands (Frances Sinclair, 1885)
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