''Vigna lanceolata'', known as the pencil yam, native bean, Maloga bean, parsnip bean, Ngarlajiyi, small yam, yam, bush carrot, Wapurtali, Wapirti, and Wajaraki is an Australian native plant. Its name in the

Arrernte language Arrernte or Aranda (; ) or sometimes referred to as Upper Arrernte (Upper Aranda), is a dialect cluster in the Arandic language group spoken in parts of the Northern Territory, Australia, by the Arrernte people. Other spelling variations are A ...

Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and i ...

is Merne arlatyeye. Bush carrot is an important

bush tucker Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and used as sustenance by Indigenous Australians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora or fauna used for culinary or ...

food for Aborigines, and there are many Dreaming rituals around it. It is still commonly eaten in the desert today. It is a slender twining plant with yellow pea flowers throughout the year. Aboriginal people from the desert dig them up in creekbeds. They look for the white roots, then cook them in the hot earth beside the fire until they are just firm. Esteemed artist

Emily Kngwarreye Emily Kame Kngwarreye (or Emily Kam Ngwarray) (1910 – 3 September 1996) was an Aboriginal Australian artist from the Utopia community in the Northern Territory. She is one of the most prominent and successful artists in the history of Aust ...

had an individual Dreaming around the pencil yam. This meant she had been given stories about the origins of the pencil yam, and was entitled to tell these stories and paint the yam.

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Vigna lanceolata
(Alice Springs town council) Fabales of Australia Bushfood Australian Aboriginal bushcraft lanceolata Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of South Australia Rosids of Western Australia {{Phaseoleae-stub