Enterospermum littorale
Hiern
Dune enterospermum
(c) magdastlucia, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) magdastlucia, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) magdastlucia, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The pea-sized brown fruit are edible and can be eaten.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It grows near the seashore. It grows in the lowlands.
Africa, East Africa, South Africa, Southern Africa,
How to Identify
A leafy shrub or small tree. It grows up to 4.5 m high. The twigs are 4 angled. The young growth has large leafy stipules. The leaves are simple, opposite and hard. They are 9 cm long by 4 cm wide. They are often widest in the upper half and tapering to the base. The tips are rounded. The stipules between the leaves are triangular and easy to see. The flowers are tiny and white or yellow. The occur in small 3 branched sprays at the ends of branches. The fruit are pea sized, round and brown. They are covered with raised lines. The fruit are edible.
References (3)
- Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 329
- Grivetti, L. E., 1980, Agricultural development: present and potential role of edible wild plants. Part 2: Sub-Saharan Africa, Report to the Department of State Agency for International Development. p 47
- Palmer, E and Pitman, N., 1972, Trees of Southern Africa. Vol. 2. A.A. Balkema, Cape Town p 2039
