Polysphaeria multiflora
Hiern
RubiaceaeFruit
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) amouly, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) amouly, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Ehoarn Bidault, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Ehoarn Bidault, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
Fruit - raw. The globose fruit is 7 - 9mm in diameter. Although small, it is carried in clusters on the plant, making harvesting easier.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. In Kenya it mostly grows from sea level to 250 m above sea level but can be up to 1,150 m.
Africa, Comoros, East Africa, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Somalia, 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 shrub or small tree. It grows 1-10 m high. The leaves are narrowly oval and the base is rounded or wedge shaped. They are 3-13 cm long by 2-4 cm wide. The flowers are white and in dense clusters. The fruit are round and 7-9 mm across. They are carried in clusters. They are white, red or black.
Production
Fruit are collected from April to June.
Names & Synonyms
Mgudi, Msamisami, Mubuna, Mumanga, Muroro, Nogola
References (4)
- Kenya Trees, Shrubs, Lianas, 1994, nzdl.org
- Mutie, F. M., et al, 2023, Important Medicinal and Food Taxa (Orders and Families) in Kenya, Based on Three Quantitative Approaches. Plants 2023, 12, 1145
- Ruffo, C. K., Birnie, A. & Tengnas, B., 2002, Edible Wild Plants of Tanzania. RELMA p 536
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
