Wild yam (also known as colic root, devil's bones, rheumatism root, or yuma) is a perennial vine found in open woods and moist thickets throughout much of the eastern United States.

The plant has a woolly reddish-brown stem, which grows from 1 to 6 meters long, and broad, ovate leaves, which are 5 to 15 centimeters long and about three-fourths as wide. Wild yam flowers in June and July, bearing small, greenish-yellow blossoms, which eventually produce three-winged capsules containing winged seeds. The plant has a slender, knotty, matted, tuberous rootstock, which is used for health purposes.