Vitellariopsis marginata
(N. E. Br.) Aubrev.
Natal bush milkwood
(c) Shaun Swanepoel, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Shaun Swanepoel
(c) Kevin Balkwill, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Kevin Balkwill, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The fruit is eaten as a snack.
Where to Find It
It is a subtropical plant. It grows in densely wooded hillsides and in forested valleys.
Africa, East Africa, Eswatini, Mozambique, South Africa, Southern Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe,
How to Identify
A small evergreen tree. It grows 6 m high. The stem is 30 cm across. The branches are often held horizontally. The leaves are on short, thick, rigid small branches. They are broadly oval and 7-16 cm long by 3-7 cm wide. They taper to the base. They are dark green and shiny above and more pale underneath. The midrib is yellow. The flowers are white or cream and 1 cm long. They are in clusters of 2-4 flowers. These are in the axils of leaves at the ends of branches. The fruit are oval and have sepals around the base. They are green but ripen to red.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Vitellariopsis marginata is a species of plant in the family Sapotaceae. It is a shrub or tree native to Mozambique, South Africa, and Eswatini.
Names & Synonyms
Muiganago, Senenze, Umcandza
References (7)
- Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 339 (As Vitellariopsis sylvestris)
- Long, C., 2005, Swaziland's Flora - siSwati names and Uses http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora/
- Schmidt, E., Lotter, M., & McCleland, W., 2007, Trees and shrubs of Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park. Jacana Media p 508
- van Wyk, Be., & Gericke, N., 2007, People's plants. A Guide to Useful Plants of Southern Africa. Briza. p 48
- Van Wyk, Br. and van Wyk P., 2009, Field Guide to Trees of Southern Africa. Struik Nature. p 100
- 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
