Xysmalobium acerateoides
(Schltr.) N. E. Br.
Bitter wood
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(c) Kate Braun, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Kate Braun
(c) Kate Braun, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Kate Braun
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Richard Gill, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Richard Gill, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Leaves, Fruit
The leaves and fruit are eaten.
Where to Find It
It is a Mediterranean or subtropical plant.
Africa, Eswatini, South Africa, Southern Africa, Swaziland,
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 herb. The stems spread along the ground and they can branch near the base. The leaves stand erect on the stem. The leaves are pale and have short stalks. The leaf blades are oval or sword shaped and taper equally to both ends. The leaves are 7 cm long by 2 cm wide. The midrib is prominent underneath. The flowers are at the ends. They are in round heads. They are white or cream. The fruit is prickly.
Notes
Also put in the family Asclepiadaceae.
Names & Synonyms
Umdzayi
Pachyacris acerateoides (Schltr.) Stewart & LangleyThis may be the correct name.
Asclepias acerateoides (Schltr.) Schltr.Gomphocarpus acerateoides Schltr.
References (6)
- Long, C., 2005, Swaziland's Flora - siSwati names and Uses http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora/
- Ogle & Grivetti, 1985,
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 67
- Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 28
- Swaziland's Flora Database http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora
- 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
