Vitex strickeri
Vatke et Hildebr.
LamiaceaeFruit
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MBG
MBG
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MBG
MBG
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Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The ripe fruit are eaten raw, especially by children.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It can grow in arid places.
Africa, East Africa, Kenya, Tanzania,
Countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Comoros, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe
How to Identify
A shrub or climber. It grows 5 m tall. The small branches have brown hairs. The leaves are compound with 3 leaflets. The central leaflet is largest. The leaflets are oval and 8 cm long. They have hairs underneath. The flowers are white. The fruit are small and brown and shiny.
Other Information
The fruit are eaten especially by children.
Notes
Also put in the family Verbenaceae.
Names & Synonyms
Mfulu, Mfuru, Mu-kanai, Mwalika
References (8)
- Dale, I. R. and Greenway, P. J., 1961, Kenya Trees and Shrubs. Nairobi. p 597
- http://www.fao.org/forestry/25323-096344a3de335832e8f363c3ac5184a66.pdf
- Jardin, C., 1970, List of Foods Used In Africa, FAO Nutrition Information Document Series No 2.p 168
- Mutie, F. G., 2020, Conservation of Wild Food Plants and Their Potential for Combatting Food Insecurity in Kenya as Exemplified by the Drylands of Kitui County. Plants 2020, 9, 1017
- Mutie, F. M., et al, 2023, Important Medicinal and Food Taxa (Orders and Families) in Kenya, Based on Three Quantitative Approaches. Plants 2023, 12, 1145
- Reis, S. V. and Lipp, F. L., 1982, New Plant Sources for Drugs and Foods from the New York Botanical Garden herbarium. Harvard. p 254
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 21st April 2011]
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
