Cladostemon kirkii

(Oliv.) Pax & Gilg.

CapparaceaeRoots

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(c) Ricky Taylor, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Ricky Taylor

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(c) Kate Braun, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Kate Braun

What to Eat

Edible parts: Roots

The roots are eaten and used as a famine food.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. It grows in the dry lowlands.

Africa, East Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania,

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 tree. It can grow to 10 m tall or be lying over. The leaves are alternate and have 3 leaflets. The leaf stalk is 3-14 cm long. The blade is 4-12 cm long by 2-5 cm wide. It is oval and wedge shaped at the base. The flowers have small petals that are greenish red and large petals that are white to yellow. They are in groups near the ends of the branches. The fruit are large and 10 cm across.