Acrotome inflata
Benth.
(c) Grant Reed, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Grant Reed
(c) Tony Rebelo, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Tony Rebelo
(c) Judy Flatt, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Nectar
The nectar is eaten as a snack.
Where to Find It
It is a subtropical plant.
Africa, Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Southern Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
How to Identify
An annual herb. It grows 15-70 cm tall. The leaves are oblong to sword shaped and 3-10 cm long by 1-2.5 cm wide. There are many flowers in rings in round clusters.
How to Grow
A plant of drier areas in the tropics and subtropics.
Medicinal Uses
An infusion of the leaves is used to relieve persistent coughing. The dried, spiny flower heads are gently rubbed on the affected area to relieve aching breasts.
Other Uses
The flower heads are burnt to repel mosquitoes.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Acrotome inflata (horsefright or tumbleweed) is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. This species is native to Africa. Acrotome inflata was first described in 1848 by George Bentham. The name "horsefright" is derived from the Afrikaans "perdeskrikbossie" (horse-fright bush).
Names & Synonyms
References (2)
- Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 69
- 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
