Vigna macrorhyncha
(Harms) Milne-Redh.
MBG
MBG
MBG
What to Eat
Edible parts: Root, Tuber
The roots are peeled and eaten raw or lightly roasted. The tubers are also eaten.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. It grows in dry areas. It can be in woodland or grassland. It grows below 2,100 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places.
Africa, Burundi, Central Africa, Congo, East Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Middle East, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
How to Identify
A herb. It can lie along the ground or be a climber. It grows 1.2 m high. The thick rootstock can be 18 cm long by 2-3 cm across. There are rounded tubers about 50 cm deep. The leaves have leaflets that are narrowly oval and 1-9 cm long by 0.3-6.5 cm wide. The flowering shoots are 2-20 cm long. The flower standard is pale purple inside and dull purple or green outside. The pods are 5-14 cm long by 3-4 mm wide. They are almost straight.
Medicinal Uses
The roots are used traditionally for food and are valued as a root vegetable resource.
Notes
One kg of tubers can have 780 calories.
Names & Synonyms
References (4)
- East African Herbarium records, 1981, 5/04/2023
- Ichikawa, M., 1980, The Utilization of Wild Food Plants by the Suiei Dorobo in Northern Kenya. J. Anthrop. Soc. Nippon. 88(1): 25-48
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 139
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 1st May 2011]
