Quaqua incarnata

(L. f.) Bruyns

ApocynaceaeShootsPotential hazards — see below

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What to Eat

Edible parts: Stems, Caution

The stem is eaten as a vegetable and in salads after the edges and prickles are peeled off.

Known Hazards

Where to Find It

It is a subtropical plant.

Africa, South Africa, Southern Africa,

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 small plant. It grows 10-15 cm tall. It branches at the base. The branches are angled and 1-3 cm across. There are teeth 5-8 cm long. They are stout and cone like with spine like tips. The flowers are in small clusters of 6-10 along the grooves of the stem. The flowers are tube shaped and pale greenish-yellow.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Quaqua incarnata is a species of succulent plant in the genus Quaqua. It is endemic to southwestern Namibia and to the Namaqualand region in the western Cape Provinces of South Africa.

Notes

There are about 56-100 Caralluma species. These are sometimes put in the Asclepiadaceae.

Names & Synonyms

Aroena

Boucerosia incarnata (L.f.) N. E. Br.Caralluma ausana Dinter & A. BergerCaralluma hottentorum (N. E. Br.) N. E. Br.Caralluma hottentorum var. major N. E. Br.Caralluma hottentorum var. minor C. A. Luckh.Caralluma hottentorum var. tubata C. A. Luckh.Caralluma incarnata (L.f.) N. E. Br.Podanthes incarnata SweetQuaqua hottentotorum N. E. Br.Quaqua incarnata subsp. hottentotorum (N. E. Br.) BruynsStapelia incarnata L. f.

References (5)

Hedrick, U.P., 1919, (Ed.), Sturtevant's edible plants of the world. p 111 (As Caralluma incarnata)
Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 27
van Wyk, B-E., 2011, The potential of South African plants in the development of new food and beverage products. South African Journal of Botany 77 (2011) 857–868
Welcome, A. K. & Van Wyk, B.-E., 2019, An inventory and analysis of the food plants of southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 122 (2019) 136–179
www.theplantlist.org