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The Keelung yam (Dioscorea pseudojaponica) belongs to Dioscoreaceae (the Yam family). It is an evergreen perennial herb that is distributed throughout Japan's Southwestern Islands, from the Tokara Islands to the Amami Islands and the Ryukyu Islands, as well as in Taiwan. It grows under forests near the coast and is a vine that climbs by twining around other plants. The population found in the Daito Islands was once considered to be "Luzon yam" (Dioscorea luzonensis), but a re-examination using molecular phylogenetic methods in 2022 confirmed that it belongs to this species. The leaves are opposite, ranging in shape from triangular-ovate to triangular-oblong, with a tail-like, tapering tip. It produces bulbils in the leaf axils. In Taiwanese Chinese, it is called "基隆野山藥".
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