Conostomium quadrangulare
(Rendle) Cufod.
Sweet flowers
Wikimedia Commons - Bentham-Moxon Trust.; Curtis, William; Curtis's botanical magazine dedications, 1827-1927 : portraits and biographical notes.; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.; Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust.
Susan Brown
Susan Brown
What to Eat
Edible parts: Flowers - nectar
The flowers are consumed for their nectar.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. It grows in bush land in the lowlands and at medium altitudes. It is often in sandy places along temporary streams. It grows between 60 and 1,350 m above sea level in East Africa.
Africa, East Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan,
How to Identify
A herb. It can grow for one or more years. It grows 30-60 cm tall. It is only slightly branched. The root is woody and the stem has 4 ribs. The leaves are narrow and 2-9 cm long by 1-2 cm wide. They taper to the tip. The flowers do not have stalks and are in the axils of leaves. They form a leafy spike like group. These are 10-25 cm long. The lowers form a long tube and are green outside with a red tinge. The fruit is an oval capsule 5-7 mm long with 8 ribs. The seeds are chestnut brown and shiny. They are 3 sided.
How to Grow
Plants can be grown from seed.
Medicinal Uses
The plant is used in traditional medicine.
Notes
It is used in medicine.
Names & Synonyms
Lokoroumwe
References (3)
- Morgan, W. T. W., 1981, Ethnobotany of the Turkana: Use of plants by a Pastoral People and Their Livestock in Kenya. Economic Botany 35(1):96-130
- Mutie, F. M., et al, 2023, Important Medicinal and Food Taxa (Orders and Families) in Kenya, Based on Three Quantitative Approaches. Plants 2023, 12, 1145
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 169
