Eulophia hereroensis — Edible Plant Database

What to Eat

Edible parts: Root, Stems

The stems are eaten raw, in other food dishes, roasted, crushed, and stored. The root bulbs are used as a vegetable and in soups, though they can be bitter and are often mixed with other plants.

Where to Find It

It is a subtropical plant. It grows in hot arid areas with a marked dry period. It can be on rocky, sandy or loamy soils including areas that are seasonally waterlogged. It grows between 715-1,700 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places.

Africa, Angola, Botswana, Central Africa, East Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Southern Africa, 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

A terrestrial orchid. It is a herb with a bulb or corm. It can grow 25-55 cm high. The false bulbs can form a chain above or below the ground. There can be 7 leaves. They form a fan. They are 12-30 cm long and 1-2 cm wide. The flowering stem is 30-50 cm tall. There are several loose flowers. They are green and yellow with some purple and red marks.

Nutrition Score: 13/100

Part	Moisture	kJ	kcal	Protein	Vit A	Vit C	Iron	Zinc
Bulb	92.6	105	25	0.6	—	2	0.4	0.2

How to Grow

Usually found in quite deep shade in the wild.

Medicinal Uses

None mentioned.

Notes

There are about 250 Eulophia species.

Names & Synonyms

Guts'iku, Kauguna, Mufondo, Mutondo, Tuo

Eulophia pillansii BolusEulophia junodiana Kraenzl.Eulophia undulata Rolfe

References (8)

Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 284
Lee, 1979,
Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 36
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 5th May 2011]
Tanaka, 1980,
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
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew