This is a slim book, but the core text contains a lot of information and analysis. It is not a book to fill in all the gaps for those that know nothing about Dioscorea species, for there is not even a key to separate species and cultigens. It is nonetheless a fascinating account for tropical agriculturists, ethnobotanists and taxonomists. Whilst we are becoming increasingly aware that the division between ‘wild’ and cultivated plants is both blurred and often confusing, yams are surely one of the few plants where this interplay between wild, cultivated and ‘feral’ continues to occur, and indeed is incorporated into both folklore and good husbandry by farmers and not just researchers.

Neither is it an easy book to digest and it needed careful reading twice for this review. Practically every aspect of biology of the group of yam species to which the cultivated white yam (Dioscorea rotundata) belongs – be it genetic status, phenology and sexuality – is variable. Previous studies have highlighted this, but the different viewpoints have only added to the challenge facing the authors (and readers) of this book You are left wishing for a simplified taxonomy, with wild and cultivated plants of white yam all under one species, together with some leads on further understanding the remarkable biology of the plant. However, this book gives the best understanding currently available for the unravelling of the story and is highly recommended.