Vitex patula
E. A. Bruce
Sand vitex, Sand finger-leaf
LamiaceaeFruit
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) magdastlucia, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by magdastlucia
(c) magdastlucia, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by magdastlucia
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) magdastlucia, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) magdastlucia, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The fruit is edible.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. It grows in deciduous woodland and on sandy and rocky soils. It grows between 20-400 m above sea level.
Africa, East Africa, Mozambique, South Africa, Southern Africa, 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 spreading shrub. It has many stems. It grows 3-4 m high. The leaves have 3-5 leaflets. The fruit is oval and fleshy. It is 1 cm long and slightly less wide.
Notes
Also put in the family Verbenaceae.
References (2)
- Cunningham, 1985,
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 199
