Cleome macrophylla
(Klotzsch) Briq.
Large-leaved cleome
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(c) Bart Wursten, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Bart Wursten
(c) Bart Wursten, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Bart Wursten
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(c) Troos van der Merwe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Troos van der Merwe
(c) Troos van der Merwe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Troos van der Merwe
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(c) Phil White, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Phil White
(c) Phil White, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Phil White
What to Eat
Edible parts: Leaves, Stem, Flowers
The leaves, stems, and flowers are cooked with the water changed several times before eating.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. It grows along rivers and on shallow soil.
Africa, Botswana, East Africa, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Southern Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
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. It grows each year from seeds. The leaves have 3 leaflets. The leaflets are more than 2 mm wide. The leaf stalks are long. The flowers are in groups at the ends of stalks. The flowers are mauve with purple markings. The fruit capsule is 7-10 mm long.
Names & Synonyms
Chilocalyx macrophyllus KlotzschChilocalyx tenuifolius KlotzschCleome inconcinna Briq.Cleome macrophylla var. maculatiflora (Merxm.) WildCleome nationae Burtt-DavyTetrateleia nationae (Burtt-Davy) Pax & K. Hoffm.
Tetratelia tenuifolia (Klotzsch) Arwidss.
References (3)
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 77
- Scudder, 1962, 1971,
- Swaziland's Flora Database http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora
