Vitex congolensis

De Wild. et T. Durand

LamiaceaeLeavesSpice/Beverage
Vitex congolensis
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Carel Jongkind, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Carel Jongkind
Vitex congolensis
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Carel Jongkind, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Carel Jongkind
Vitex congolensis
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Bart Wursten, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves - tea

The leaves are cooked and used as a tea substitute.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant.

Africa, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Congo DR,

Countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Comoros, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A small tropical tree in the mint family that grows approximately 2 m tall, with leaves used for beverage preparation.

Notes

Also put in the family Verbenaceae.

Names & Synonyms

Ebite

References (1)
  • Termote, C., et al, 2011, Eating from the wild: Turumbu, Mbole and Bali traditional knowledge of non-cultivated edible plants, District Tshopo, DRCongo, Gen Resourc Crop Evol. 58:585-618

More from Lamiaceae