Aristida congesta
Roem. & Schult.
(c) Tony Rebelo, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Tony Rebelo
(c) David Hoare, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by David Hoare
(c) David Hoare, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by David Hoare
What to Eat
Edible parts: Seeds, Cereal
The seeds are cooked and eaten as a cereal.
Where to Find It
It is a subtropical plant.
Africa, Bostwana, East Africa, Mozambique, South Africa, Southern Africa,
How to Identify
A subtropical grass in the family Poaceae. The seeds are harvested for food.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Aristida congesta (tassel three-awn, Afrikaans: Aapstertsteekgras) is a species of grass native to all provinces of South Africa as well as Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, and Mozambique. The SANBI Red List classifies it as "safe." SANBI mentions two subspecies: Aristida congesta Roem. & Schult. subsp. congesta Aristida congesta Roem. & Schult. subsp. barbicollis (Trin. & Rupr.) De Winter It is a thick perennial tussock that grows 10–75 cm high. The leaves can be flat or folded. The plumes are 3–20 cm long. The spikelets have uneven husks. The upper portion is the widest, at 6.5–10 mm. It can be found on deciduous woodland on rocky slopes and weathered areas.
Names & Synonyms
References (3)
- Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 87
- 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
- Youngblood, D., 2004, Identification and Quantification of Edible Plant Foods in the Upper (Nama) Karoo, South Africa. Economic Botany 58 (Supplement) :S43-S65
