Euclea crispa
(Thunb.) Guerke
Blue guarri, Blue-leaved euclea
(c) Reuben Heydenrych, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Reuben Heydenrych
(c) Rouxne Botha, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Rouxne Botha
(c) fayne, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by fayne
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit, Leaves
The ripe fruit and leaves are edible. The leaves are eaten as an appetiser.
Known Hazards
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It grows in open woodland among rocks and at the edge of forests. In Malawi it is mainly in scrub among rocks. It can grow in arid places. In Zimbabwe it grows between 1,100-2,300 m above sea level.
Africa, Angola, Botswana, Central Africa, Congo, East Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Slovenia, South Africa, Southern Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
How to Identify
A shrub. It grows 1-2 m high. It can be up to 8 m tall. The bark is grey and smooth. The leaves are sword shaped and 1.5-5 cm long by 0.5-1.5 cm wide. The colour of the green can vary but leaves are paler underneath. The flowers are very small and green to yellow. There are 3-10 flowers in sprays in the axils of leaves. The fruit is a round berry the size of a pea. It is red but becomes black when ripe. The fruit is edible. There is one seed.
Nutrition
| Part | Moisture | kJ | kcal | Protein | Vit A | Vit C | Iron | Zinc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fruit | 81.2 | — | — | — | — | — | 2.1 | 0.2 |
How to Grow
Plants can be grown from seeds.
Medicinal Uses
The fruit are traditionally used as a purgative.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Euclea crispa, commonly known as the blue guarri, is an Afrotropical plant species of the family Ebenaceae. The hardy and evergreen plants may form a dense stand of shrubs, or grow to tree size. It is widespread and common in the interior regions of southern Africa, and occurs northward to the tropics. Though some are present near the South African south and east coasts, they generally occur at middle to high altitudes. It is readily recognizable from its much-branched structure and dull bluish foliage colour. Those bearing lanceolate leaves may however resemble the Wild olive, another common species of the interior plateaus.
Production
It is fairly slow growing.
Notes
There are 12-15 Euclea species. Euclea are restricted to Africa, Arabia, Comoros and Socotra.
Names & Synonyms
Bloughwarrie, Bosghwarrie, Guarri, Gwari-gwari, Idungamuzi, Inchitsamuti, Indodennyama, Indvodzemnyama, Iyeza-lokuxaxazisa, Madziyire, Mohlakolo, Mokgwelekgwele, Mokveretani, Motakola, Mothagola, Motlhakola, Motsetlele, Motsoetla, Mulala, Mulhangule, Musingaranguru, Mutangule, Mutangulenyele, Muvhinji, Myamatanemkhulu, Nhlangula, Sijele, Tshlangula, Umgwali, Umgwate, Umndlela, Umtjekezane
References (25)
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