Marantochloa cuspidata
(Rosc.) Milne-Redh.
MarantaceaeFruit
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(c) Jonathan Hiew, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Jonathan Hiew
(c) Jonathan Hiew, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Jonathan Hiew
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Carel Jongkind, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Carel Jongkind, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The pulp of the fruit is eaten raw.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant.
Africa, Sierra Leone, West 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 tropical herb in the Marantaceae family with edible fruit.
Other Uses
The leaf attains a large size, up to 25 cm long by 15 cm wide. It thus serves as a useful wrapper for kola nuts and food. A fibre obtained from the plant is used to make nets.
Names & Synonyms
Marantochloa flexuosa (Benth.) Hutch.
References (3)
- Dalziel, J. M., 1937, The Useful plants of west tropical Africa. Crown Agents for the Colonies London.
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 35
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
