Vitis uvifera — Edible Plant Database

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

The fruit are eaten.

Dangerous Lookalikes

This plant can be confused with the following toxic species. Always verify identification carefully before consuming any wild plant.

DEADLY

Canadian Moonseed

Menispermum canadense

SAFE

Vitis uvifera

Canadian Moonseed: No tendrils, single crescent/moon-shaped seed, leaf stem attaches to underside of leaf.

Vitis uvifera: Vine with tendrils, round seeds, leaf stem at edge of leaf, bark that peels.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It grows in tropical Africa.

Africa, Central Africa, Equatorial Guinea,

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 climbing vine. It can be 10 m long. The stem can be 4 sided and woody. The leaf stalks are 2-5 cm long. The leaves are oval or heart shaped. They are 8-10 cm long by 5-7 cm wide. The lobes at the base are rounded. There can be small teeth along the edge towards the tips. It has long tendrils. The flowers are in large groups. There are 6-10 flowers in a group. The fruit are small and pea sized and black. They have one seed.