Prionium serratum
(L.f.) Drege
Palmite rush
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What to Eat
Edible parts: Shoots, Bud, Rhizomes, Root, Flowers, Stems
The inner parts of young stems, young flowers, shoots, buds, rhizomes, roots, and stems are eaten.
Where to Find It
It is a subtropical plant. It grows in the beds of rivers.
Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, 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 plant that grows in water. It forms dense stands 1.8 m tall. The leaves are narrow and taper to the tip. There are teeth along the edge. The flowers are in a branched group at the top of the plant. The flowers are 2 mm long. The fruit is a capsule. There are 1-2 seeds in each chamber.
Names & Synonyms
Palmiet, Sela, Tsetla
Acorus palmita Licht.Juncus serratus L.f.Prionum palmita E. Mey.Prionoschoenus serratus (L.f.) Kuntze
References (6)
- De Vynk, J. C., et al, 2016, Indigenous edible plant use by contemporary Khoe-San descendants of South Africa's Cape South Coast. South African Journal of Botany. 102 (2016) 60-69
- Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 243
- Hedrick, U.P., 1919, (Ed.), Sturtevant's edible plants of the world. p 517 (As Prionum palmita)
- Linnaea 7:131. 1832
- Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 69
- 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
