Convolvulus farinosus

ConvolvulaceaeLeavesRoots

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(c) Sandra Falanga, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Sandra Falanga

iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Klarissa, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Klarissa

What to Eat

Edible parts: Roots, Vegetable

Young leaves are cooked and eaten, often mixed with other vegetables. The roots are also eaten as a vegetable.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. It grows in grassland between 1,000-2,600 m above sea level.

Africa, Botswana, East Africa, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Mediterranean, Mozambique, Reunion, South Africa, Southern Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe,

Countries: Albania, Angola, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cyprus, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Spain, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Croatia, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Comoros, Lebanon, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Monaco, Montenegro, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Malta, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Slovenia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Syria, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A herb. It keeps growing from year to year. The stems are long and twining. The leaf blades are oval or triangle shaped. They are alternate. The leaf stalk is 7 cm long. The leaf blade is 3-11 cm long by 4-6 cm wide. The flowering stems are in the axils of leaves and stalks are 6 cm long. They are tube shaped and narrow. The fruit are round capsules 5-8 mm across. There are usually 4 seeds. They are round or 3 sided and black.

How to Grow

Plants can be grown by seed.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Convolvulus farinosus is a species of plant in the family Convolvulaceae. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa.

Production

Leaves are collected during the rainy season.

Other Information

A minor leaf vegetable used when other leaves are scarce.

Names & Synonyms

Enambonhoa, Mrasimwa, Rasimwa

References (6)

Grubben, G. J. H. and Denton, O. A. (eds), 2004, Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA, Wageningen, Netherlands. p 215
Johns, T., Mhoro, E. B. and Sanaya, P., 1996, Food Plants and Masticants of the Batemi of Ngorongoro District, Tanzania. Economic Botany, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 115-121
Ruffo, C. K., Birnie, A. & Tengnas, B., 2002, Edible Wild Plants of Tanzania. RELMA p 226
Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 45
Welcome, A. K. & Van Wyk, B.-E., 2019, An inventory and analysis of the food plants of southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 122 (2019) 136–179
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew