Cassine matabelicum
(Loes.) Steedman
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GBIF
GBIF
gbif · cc-by-nc-sa
GBIF
GBIF
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MBG
MBG
What to Eat
Edible parts: Wood - spice, Fruit
The fruit is eaten as a snack. The wood is used as a spice, imparting a spicy flavour and smell to meat cooked over it.
Where to Find It
It is a subtropical plant.
Africa, South Africa, Southern Africa, Zimbabwe,
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 7 m tall. The leaves are dark green above and greyish green underneath. They are 4-10 cm long by 1.5-4.5 cm wide. The flowers have 5 petals that are green to yellow. The fruit are small and lemon shaped. They are pale yellowish-green and waxy. The fruit contain one stone.
Names & Synonyms
Cassine matabelicum (Loes.) SteedmanElaeodendron matabelicum Loes.
References (6)
- Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 149
- INFOODS:FAO/INFOODS Databases (As Cassine matabelicum)
- Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 42
- Seidemann J., 2005, World Spice Plants. Economic Usage, Botany, Taxonomy. Springer. p 88
- Wehmeyer, A. S, 1986, Edible Wild Plants of Southern Africa. Data on the Nutrient Contents of over 300 species
- 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 (As Elaeodendron matabelicum)
