Plicosepalus acaciae

(Zucc.) Wiens & Polhill

Acacia strap flower

LoranthaceaeLeavesFlowers

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

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

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

What to Eat

Edible parts: Flowers - Vegetable

The flowers are eaten as a vegetable.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. It grows at about 1,300 m above sea level.

Africa, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lebanon, Mediterranean, Middle East, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sinai, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, 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, 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

It grows attached to other plants such as Acacias. The leaves are opposite. They are oval and 3-8 cm long by 1-3 cm wide.

Medicinal Uses

The flowers have an anti-diabetic effect.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Plicosepalus acaciae (syn. Loranthus acaciae), the acacia strap flower, is a species of hemiparasitic flowering plant in the family Loranthaceae. It is native to northeastern Africa, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula. As its common and scientific names suggest, it parasitizes acacias; Vachellia tortilis subsp. raddiana (formerly Acacia raddiana) and V. t. subsp. tortilis (formerly A. tortilis). It seeds are dispersed by the white-spectacled bulbul (Pycnonotus xanthopygos).

Notes

The flowers have an anti-diabetic effect.

Names & Synonyms

Loranthus acaceae Zucc.Loranthus arabicus DeflersLoranthus gibbosulus A. Rich.Loranthus laetus R. Br.Loranthus venustus Fenzl ex EichlerTapinostemma acaciae (Zucc.) Tiegh.Tapinostemma arabicum (Deflers) TieghTapinostemma venustum (Fenzl ex Eichler) Tiegh.

References (2)

Grubben, G. J. H. and Denton, O. A. (eds), 2004, Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA, Wageningen, Netherlands. p 564
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew