Dioscorea villosa is a species of twining tuberous vine which is native to eastern North America.

[citation needed] Some of the English common names of this plant reflect its use in Native American and other traditional medicines.

[16] In traditional Russian herbal medicine, saponin extracts from the roots of various varieties of wild yam are thought to be an anticoagulant, antisclerotic, antispasmodic, cholagogue, depurative, diaphoretic, diuretic and a vasodilator.

[17] There is little modern clinical research on Dioscorea villosa, and the one study of a wild yam-containing cream for menopausal symptoms failed to find any value from this therapy.

[18] According to the American Cancer Society, there is no evidence to support wild yam or diosgenin being either safe or effective in humans.