Morella serrata
(Lam.) Killick
Lance-leaved waxberry
(c) Tony Rebelo, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Tony Rebelo
(c) Robert Taylor, some rights reserved (CC BY)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The fruit is eaten as a snack.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. It grows along rivers and in marshy grassland. It grows between 1,550-2,150 m altitude.
Africa, Angola, Botswana, Central Africa, East Africa, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Southern Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
How to Identify
A shrub or small tree. It grows 1-9 m tall. It has many branches. It usually has male and female flowers on separate trees. The bark is grey. The leaves are scented. The leaf blades are 7-12 cm long by 1-3 cm wide. They are narrowly sword shaped. There are teeth along the edge. The male catkins are reddish. The fruit is oval and 3-4 mm across.
Names & Synonyms
Leti, Maluleka, Meluleka, Mnungu, Monnamotsu, Mukungula, Uleti
References (6)
- Flora Zambesiaca. http://apps.kew.org/efloras
- Fowler, D. G., 2007, Zambian Plants: Their Vernacular Names and Uses. Kew. p 49
- Grivetti, L. E., 1980, Agricultural development: present and potential role of edible wild plants. Part 2: Sub-Saharan Africa, Report to the Department of State Agency for International Development. p 65 (As Myrica conifera)
- Long, C., 2005, Swaziland's Flora - siSwati names and Uses http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora/
- Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 80
- 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
