Smilax anceps
Willd.
Leg-ripper, Thorny rope
(c) Sharon Louw, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Sharon Louw
(c) Wynand Uys, some rights reserved (CC BY)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Leaves, Root, Rhizome, Tuberous root - flavouring, Fruit, Vegetable
The tubers are cooked and eaten as a starchy staple, typically cut into small pieces, soaked in water for 3 days, then dried and crushed. The leaves and fruit are also eaten as vegetables.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It grows in savannah and forests in West Africa. It is often along the edges of rivers.
Africa*, Angola, Asia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Congo DR, East Africa, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guianas, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Reunion, SE Asia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa*, Southern Africa, Suriname, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
How to Identify
A tall climber. The stems have many small hooks. The leaves occur singly and are alternate. They are broadly oval and 8 cm long by 6 cm wide. There are a pair of unbranched tendrils. The male and female flowers are on separate plants. The flowering groups are in the axils of the leaves. The flowers form a dense round cluster. The fruit is round and fleshy. It is 1 cm across.
Nutrition Score: 42/100
| Part | Moisture | kJ | kcal | Protein | Vit A | Vit C | Iron | Zinc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fruit | 82.5 | 362 | 87 | 10.2 | — | — | — | — |
How to Grow
Plants can be grown from seeds.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Smilax anceps is a vigorous scrambling vine or shrub, and is one of some 278 species in the genus Smilax in the family Smilacaceae. The species is widespread in Tropical Africa, Southern Africa, Réunion, Mauritius, Comoros, and Madagascar. The specific name 'anceps' is Latin for 'dangerous', a caution against the hooked prickles. Tarundia cinctipennis Stål, 1862, a hemipteran insect, is associated with this plant. It has tough, fibrous stems up to 5 m long, armed with numerous hooked prickles and pairs of coiled tendrils at the leaf petiole bases. Leaves are entire, alternate, ovate to elliptic to somewhat circular, 4–14 cm long, with a leathery texture. Petioles are 0.5-2.5 cm long, thickened, and channeled above. Inflorescences are many-flowered axillary, globose umbels, with peduncles some 3 cm long and 2 ovate bracts near the middle, and some 5 mm long. Flowers in the same inflorescence are unisexual, with perianth segments 3–5 mm long, recurved, greenish-white, yellowish or brownish. The fruit is a globose berry, 8–10 mm in diameter, turning from red to purplish to black when ripe, slightly sweet and acidulous. This species was first described and published in 1806 by Carl Ludwig von Willdenow, the early German phytogeographer in "Species Plantarum" Editio Quarto 4: 782.
Notes
There are about 300 Smilax species.
Names & Synonyms
Bum-hawet, Canar afrika, Diia, Ekoungou, Inchachabulane, Litchoubo, Luagalatilo, Mpolo, Mukobololo, N'arara, Nicaru, Ngila ngila, Nzila nzila, P'titinane, Sarsaparila afrika, Sumbus, Um-arara, West African sarsparilla
References (21)
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- Flora 28:312. 1845
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- Sukarya, D. G., (Ed.) 2013, 3,500 Plant Species of the Botanic Gardens of Indonesia. LIPI p 970
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- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
