Cyphostemma junceum
(Webb) Descoings
Purplebloom wild grape
(c) Rob Palmer, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Rob Palmer
(c) Nicholas Wightman, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Nicholas Wightman
(c) ONG OeBenin, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by ONG OeBenin
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The ripe fruit can be eaten.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. It grows in woodland.
Africa, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Southern Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
How to Identify
A herb that keeps growing from year to year. It is fleshy and grows 1.3 m high. It has a tuberous rootstock. The leaves have 3-5 leaflets. The leaflets are 30 cm long by 5 cm wide. There are teeth along the edges. The flowers are in 25 cm long groups at the top of the plant. The petals are greenish-red. The fruit is reddish-purple. It is 1 cm long by 0.6 cm wide. There is one seed 7 mm long by 4 mm wide. It has ridges along it.
Names & Synonyms
Mnuwake-munda, Mupassa, Zindakubaya
References (9)
- Flora Zambesiaca. http://apps.kew.org/efloras
- Fowler, D. G., 2007, Zambian Plants: Their Vernacular Names and Uses. Kew. p 63
- Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 368
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 202
- Tredgold, M.H., 1986, Food Plants of Zimbabwe. Mambo Press. p 7
- Wild, 1975,
- Williamson, 1972,
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
- www.zimbabweflora.co.zw 2011
