Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Forest Elephant's Foot (Dioscorea sylvatica)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called Forest Elephant's Foot, Wild Yam, Climbing Elephant's Foot.

More about forest elephant's foot

About Forest Elephant's Foot

Dioscorea sylvatica · also called Forest Elephant's Foot, Wild Yam · houseplant

A rare South African caudiciform with a massive, reticulated tuberous caudex that slowly grows to elephant-foot proportions over decades. Annual twining vines reach 4–5 m each season. Unlike most Dioscorea, it grows in winter and is dormant in summer. An unusual, rewarding collector's plant suited to a bright windowsill.

Cold limit: USDA 10-12 · RHS H1b (10–28°C)

Watch for — Failure to produce new vines in autumn: If the caudex was kept too warm and wet in summer, or too cold during dormancy, it may be slow to break dormancy. Ensure a dry, warm dormancy (18–25°C) and begin very light watering in early autumn to trigger growth.

What forest elephant's foot's hardiness rating actually means

Forest Elephant's Foot is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Its RHS rating of H1b means: Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season. On the US scale that maps to USDA 10-12 — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 10 °C (sustained cold below this is damaging). Forest Elephant's Foot has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for forest elephant's foot as it gets too cold:

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches.
A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover.
Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.

Can forest elephant's foot go outside or overwinter — and where?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually.
Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C.
It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when forest elephant's foot can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1b figure above.

Forest Elephant's Foot hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is forest elephant's foot cold hardy?

Forest Elephant's Foot is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Indoor-only in almost every home. Forest Elephant's Foot can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA 10-12); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature forest elephant's foot can survive?

What hardiness zone is forest elephant's foot?

Forest Elephant's Foot is rated USDA 10-12 and RHS H1b — Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season.

Can forest elephant's foot survive winter outside?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually. Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C. It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

What happens to forest elephant's foot below its minimum temperature?

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches. A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover. Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.