Pergularia tomentosa

ApocynaceaeShoots

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

What to Eat

Edible parts: Stems, Medicine

The stems are eaten as a famine food.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical and subtropical plant. It can grow in arid places. It is salt tolerant.

Afghanistan, Africa, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Central Africa, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mediterranean, Middle East, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, North Africa, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Sahel, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, UAE, West Africa, Yemen,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Bahrain, 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, Iraq, Iran, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Comoros, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Monaco, Montenegro, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Malta, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sudan, Slovenia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Syria, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A climbing shrub. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows 1 m tall or higher. It has greenish hairs. The stems are slender. The leaves are large and heart shaped or kidney shaped. The flowers are greenish-yellow or white. The fruit follicles and 3-5 cm long and oval. They have a long beak. The seeds are small and oval.

Medicinal Uses

The plant is used as medicine.

Other Information

It is a famine food.

Notes

It is used as medicine.

Names & Synonyms

Abu-groon, Ghalja

References (5)

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 26
Kahnouj, H., et al, 2017, Pergularia tomentosa, from Traditional Uses to Ecology and Phytochemistry. Journal of Medicinal Plants. Volume 16, No. 63, Summer 2017
Karim, F. M. & Dakheel, A, J., 2006, Salt-tolerant plants of the United Arab Emirates. 2006. International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, Dubai, UAE.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 4th April 2011]
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew