Barbasco

Literature References: Name applied in the Spanish-speaking countries of the New World to many unrelated plants used to poison or stun fish. In Mexico it usually means roots of Dioscorea composita Hemsl., or of Dioscorea tepinapensis Uline, Dioscoreaceae which yield up to 5% of their dry weight in diosgenin: Chem. Week 79, no. 2, p 20 (July 14, 1956). Isoln procedure: Julian, US 3019220 (1962 to Julian Labs.). Book: D. G. Coursey, Yams (Longmans, London, 1967) 230 pp, an account of the nature, origins, cultivation and utilization of the useful members of the Dioscoreaceae. Compare Yam, Mexican.