Trichoscypha lucens — Edible Plant Database

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

Fruit - raw. The pulp is sweet when ripe and is sometimes eaten. The fruit is an ovoid drupe 15 - 20mm long, 10 - 15mm in diameter with red hairs.

Known Hazards

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It grows in closed forest in West Africa.

Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

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 small tree. It grows 6.5 m high or can be 25 m high. The trunk can be 15-35 cm across.

Medicinal Uses

The plant (part not specified) is used in the treatment of costal pains and stiff-neck.

Other Uses

The bark exudes a dirty orange-yellow resin with an aromatic smell. The wood is strong, tough and durable. It is used for making canoes, tool handles, knife and sword sheaths and is sawn into planks. The wood is carved into fetish masks.

Names & Synonyms

Anonkoya, Daokro

Trichoscypha chevalieri Aubrev. & Pellegr.Trichoscypha parvifoliata Van der VekenTrichoscypha ulugurensis Mildbr. subsp. ulugurensis Mildbr.Trichoscypha liketensis Van der VekenTrichoscypha ulugurensis Mildbr. subsp. submontana (Van de Veken) KokwaroTrichoscypha diversifoliolata Van der VekenTrichoscypha kwangoensis Van de VekenTrichoscypha pallidiflora Engl. & BrehmerTrichoscypha silveirana Exell & MendocaTrichoscypha ealensis Van der VekenTrichoscypha volubilis Van der VekenTrichoscypha rhoifolia Van der VekenTrichoscypha coriacea Engl. & BrehmerTrichoscypha ledermannii Engl. & BrehmerTrichoscypha yapoensis Aubrev. & Pellegr.Trichoscypha submontana Van der VekenTrichoscypha oba Aubrev. & Pellegr.Trichoscypha albiflora Engl.Pseudospondias luxurians A. Chev.

References (8)

Abbiw, D.K., 1990, Useful Plants of Ghana. West African uses of wild and cultivated plants. Intermediate Technology Publications and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. p 48 (As Trichoscypha oba)
Aubrev., 1934, Bull. Soc. Bot. France 81:648 (As Trichoscypha oba)
Breteler, F. J., 2004, The genus Trichoscypha (Anacardiaceae) in Lower Guinea and Congolia: A synoptic revision. ADANSONIA, sér. 3 • 2004 • 26 (1) : 97-127
Burkill, H. M., 1985, The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vol. 1. Kew. (Also as Trichoscypha oba)
Ferns, Useful Tropical Plants.
Irvine, 1961, (As Trichoscypha oba)
JSTOR Global Plants edible (As Trichoscypha oba)
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew