Ormocarpum trichocarpum

(Taub.) Engl.

FabaceaeLeavesFlowers

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(c) JP, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Flowers, Leaves

The dried leaves are pounded and sieved. This powder is stirred into warm water, which is then boiled while stirring to form a thick paste, which may then be mixed with pounded groundnuts and eaten with a staple food such as ugali or rice.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant.

Africa, Botswana, Central Africa, East Africa, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Southern Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda,

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 shrub or small tree. It grows 1-5 m tall. It has white hairs. The bark on old stems is cracked and corky. The leaves have 7-15 leaflets. They are 3-11 mm long by 1.5-3.5 mm wide.

How to Grow

This species possibly hybridizes with O. Kirkii in the wild.

Medicinal Uses

Ash from the plant is rubbed onto swollen parts of the body after scarification in order to reduce oedema and relieve allergic conditions. The roots are used to treat rheumatism and stomach problems. The crushed leaves are rubbed on to the forehead to treat headache.

Other Uses

The wood is used for walking sticks and poles. The wood is used for fuel.

Names & Synonyms

Kiumbu, Shubde

Diphaca trichocarpa Taub.

References (6)

Harkonen, M. & Vainio-Mattila, K., 1998, Some examples of Natural Products in the Eastern Arc Mountains. Journal of East African Natural History 87:265-278
Lulekal, E., et al, 2011, Wild edible plants in Ethiopia: a review on their potential to combat food insecurity. Afrika Focus - Vol. 24, No 2. pp 71-121
Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 59
Vainio-Mattila, K., 2000, Wild vegetables used by the Sambaa in the Usumbara Mountains, NE Tanzania. Ann. Bot. Fennici 37:57-67
van Wyk, Ben-Erik, 2019, The diversity and multiple uses of southern African legumes. Australian Systematic Botany, 2019, 32, 519–546
Welcome, A. K. & Van Wyk, B.-E., 2019, An inventory and analysis of the food plants of southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 122 (2019) 136–179