Maytenus acuminata

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit, Roots

The roots are used in soup. The fruit and roots are edible portions.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. It grows between 1,400-2,400 m above sea level.

Africa, Asia, Bangladesh, Burundi, Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo DR, East Africa, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Myanmar, Rwanda, SE Asia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

How to Identify

A shrub or small tree. It can grow 1-15 m tall. The leaves are dark green and shiny above and more pale underneath. They are 2-12 cm long by 1-5 cm wide. They are narrowly oval. The flower petals are green or white and can be tinged with red. The fruit capsule is orange to red and 4-11 mm long. It has 3 lobes. There are 1-3 seeds and they ate brown.

Maytenus acuminata (also called the silky bark, umNama or Sybas) is a variable, medium-sized, evergreen tree indigenous to Africa, including South Africa. Here it is especially common on the verges of afro-montane forest. It produces small, white flowers and bright orange or red berries. In cultivation it is useful as a light shade tree, as an ornamental, or for attracting birds. The reference to "silk" in some of its common names derives from the way in which some of its sap will congeal into silky threads on contact with air. This can most easily be demonstrated by carefully breaking a leaf across, then gently pulling the two halves apart (see illustration). The threads appear at points that coincide with the positions where major veins in the leaf have broken. The threads do not appear to have any practical use, least of all as fibre.

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