Cephalanthus natalensis

Oliv.

Quinine berry, Tree strawberry

RubiaceaeFruitLeavesFlowersScore: 23/100

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

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(c) Frank Gaude, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

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

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit, Leaves, Flowers

The fruit are eaten fresh as a bitter-sweet snack or made into conserve, becoming more bitter with storage. The flowers are also eaten as a snack.

Where to Find It

It is a subtropical plant. It often grows among rocks. It suits hardiness zones 9-11.

Africa, East Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa*, Southern Africa, Swaziland, 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

It can be a shrub or climber or small tree. It is evergreen. The stem can be 20 cm across. The leaves are dark green and shiny. They are 1.3-3.8 cm long and egg shaped but often broadest below the middle. The have a blunt point with a long jutting tip. The edges of the leaves are often rolled inwards. The flowers are small and red or greenish-white. They form tubes. They are 2.5 cm across. They occur at the ends of twigs. The fruit are made up of many small fruitlets packed into a round head. They turn pink or red when ripe. They are edible.

Nutrition Score: 23/100

Part	Moisture	kJ	kcal	Protein	Vit A	Vit C	Iron	Zinc
Fruit	83.4	216	52	0.7	—	2.2	2	0.2

Other Information

The fruit are gathered on large amounts.

Notes

There are 10 Cephalanthus species.

Names & Synonyms

Isamomfo, Mfomfo, Morodo, Morodwe, Motlholobu, Murondo, Musipwe, Mutsanda, Umfomamasi, Umfomfo, Umfomfu, Umfunfu, Umkhombe, Umufofo, Witpruim

References (19)

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Hooker's Icon. Pl. 14: t. 1331. 1881
INFOODS:FAO/INFOODS Databases (As Cephalenthus natalensis)
Jardin, C., 1970, List of Foods Used In Africa, FAO Nutrition Information Document Series No 2.p 125
Long, C., 2005, Swaziland's Flora - siSwati names and Uses http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora/
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Ogle & Grivetti, 1985,
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Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 168
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Swaziland's Flora Database http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora
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
White, F., Dowsett-Lemaire, F. and Chapman, J. D., 2001, Evergreen Forest Flora of Malawi. Kew. p 472
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
www.zimbabweflora.co.zw 2011