Question: are yams and sweet potatoes in the same family?
Answer: Yams are members of the genus Dioscorea and are in their own special family, Dioscoreaceae. They are tubers, like potatoes, and are mostly cultivated in tropical parts of the world. ... Sweet potatoes, on the other hand, come from the species Ipomoea batatas, in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae.