Trichilia capitata
Klotzsch
(c) Graeme White, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Graeme White
(c) Graeme White, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Graeme White
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The fruit is edible.
Where to Find It
It is a subtropical plant. It grows along streams and sometimes on termite mounds. It grows at low altitude. It can grow in arid places.
Africa, East Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe,
How to Identify
A shrub or tree. It loses its leaves during the year. It grows 3-15 m tall. The leaves are compound with 4-6 pairs of opposite leaflets. The leaves have leaflets along the stalk and one at the end. The leaves are hairy. The leaflets are 11.5 cm long by 5 cm wide. The flowers are in dense groups in the axils of leaves. The flowers are 3-4 mm long and white. The fruit is a capsule about 1.5 cm across. It is round. The seeds are dull dark red. They have an orange fleshy layer around them.
Medicinal Uses
The roots are used as a treatment for snake bites.
Names & Synonyms
Chicara, Sinzaxeule, Tondua
References (2)
- Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 263
- 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 3rd May 2011]
